Truett-McConnell's Briggs wins National Shooting titles

ATLANTA- Johnson graduate Jodi Briggs of Gainesville has added her name to those already engraved on the prestigious Pat Melaragano Trophy. emblematic of the NRA Intercollegiate Women&#39;s Air Pistol Championship.<br> <br> Briggs&#39; triumph marked a stunning victory in the event at 2002 NRA Intercollegiate Pistol Championships. Her qualifying score of 377 is a new record for both the course of fire and the championship. Leading the field by a commanding 13 points going into the final round of competition, Briggs increased her advantage with a 97.5 in the last stage of the contest- known as &#34;Finals&#34;- to finish with a total score of 474.5.<br> <br> Second place finisher, Jennifer Leong of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, tallied 364 in the preliminary stage and 94 points in the Finals, for a total of 458. Third place went to Ohio State&#39;s Jennifer Trickett with a total of 457.5.<br> <br> &#34;It was exciting,&#34; Briggs said after her win, &#34;even before I knew about the record. I was a bit unhappy with my score for the last 10 shots in the preliminary, so I went after the Final round as though everything depended on it (which it did) and that paid off.&#34;<br> <br> Briggs, 19, is a freshman at Truett-McConnell in Cleveland. She began shooting as part of a 4-H program, in the sixth grade. She switched to air pistol in high school, because a coach was available. Like her peers she has Olympic aspirations, but they do not dominate.<br> <br> &#34;I shoot because it&#39;s fun,&#34; she says. &#34;If it stops being fun, I&#39;ll take a break.&#34;<br> <br> Women&#39;s Air Pistol competition includes 40 shot, fired within a time limit of one hour, 15 minutes. The distance is 10 meters or around 33 feet. Winners in air pistol competition are determined by a shoot-off among the top-scoring competitors in the preliminary contest. Shoot-off targets are scored on a decimal system according to the distance of each shot from the scoring ring. A perfect center hit scores 10.9. A perfect shoot-off score is 109.<br> <br> An air-pistol used for the competition must be of 4.5 mm (.177 inch) caliber and weigh less than 1500 grams (3.3 lbs.) It may be powered by compressed air or CO2. The weight of trigger pull must be at least 500 g (17.6 ozs.). Repeating air pistols may be used, but pellets must be loaded singly. Optical and electronic sights are prohibited.<br> <br> The Championships, held at Tom Lowe Shooting Ground and Olympic Park- the shooting venue for the 1996 Olympics- outside Atlanta March 22-25, brought together 100 shooters, representing 18 colleges and universities, plus teams from three College ROTC detachments for three days of shoulder-to-shoulder competition with .22 caliber target pistols and precision air-pistols.<br> <br> In addition to winning the 2002 Women&#39;s Intercollegiate&#39;s, Briggs finished fifth in the women&#39;s Sport Pistol competition and was the Women&#39;s Aggregate Winner for the Championship, having the highest combined score of precision air-pistol and sport pistol. Briggs was also named to the First team NRA Collegiate Air Pistol Team.<br> <br>