The Minot Rifle and Pistol Club was able to set up and sponsor a 3 day Air Rifle and Smallbore Rifle clinic by Olympic Gold Medalist Virginia Thrasher and Abigail Gordon. Ginny, at the age of 19 years, was the 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist in Women’s 10m Air Rifle during the Summer Games held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Both Ginny and Abby are currently training to earn the right to compete in the next Olympic Games. They are resident athletes at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Ginny is a graduate of the West Virginia University shooting program and Abby is a graduate of the Texas Christian University shooting program. They offered a very unique opportunity for our young shooting athletes. Everyone who participated not only learned a lot, they enjoyed themselves while they learned.
Young shooting athletes from around the state participated in the clinic. 80 percent of their expenses were covered through fundraising efforts by the Minot Rifle and Pistol Club, and the Minot club range served as the host site for this very outstanding clinic. So, it was not only an exceptional and unique opportunity, it was very affordable.
I know that our five advanced rifle athletes from Devils Lake, Jacob Vaagen, Rachel Vaagen, Isaac Vaagen, Lauren Stiven, and Casia Steinhaus were very impressed with the quality of the instruction and the individual attention that they received throughout the clinic. The parents and coaches who attended were also very impressed with the quality of the information presented and the enjoyable manner in which it was presented.
I have attended two other clinics presented by Olympic medalists, but I have personally never attended a better clinic than this one. Congratulations to the Minot Rifle and Pistol Club, and the other major clinic sponsors, Scheels, Kenmare Vets Gaming, and Minot VFW Club for making such a great opportunity possible.
It takes a lot of work to setup and run a clinic of this quality.
Ginny and Abby will be competing in the second US Olympic Trials Selection Match in December alongside Katie Zaun from Buffalo, North Dakota. We wish them all the best. Results of the trials will be posted here: https://usashooting.org/get-involved/events/
