Nation Ford’s Cameron Earns Overall Wins, National Records at 2022 National Sporter Air Rifle Championship

July 13, 2022

Civilian Marksmanship Program▸State Director▸South Carolina▸Nation Ford’s Cameron Earns Overall Wins, National Records at 2022 National Sporter Air Rifle Championship

CAMP PERRY, Ohio – Nation Ford High School’s Marine Corps JROTC, coming off a Three-Position National Championship title its members achieved in March, saw Maya Cameron, 18, leading all matches at the 2022 National Three-Position Sporter Air Rifle Championship.

The National Championship for the sporter class was held June 23-25, 2022, at the Gary Anderson CMP Competition Center in Ohio. A group of 122 junior athletes from 4-H, Scouts, American Legion, club and JROTC air rifle programs fired in the event, which facilitated two different matches: the Junior Olympic Three-Position Nationals and the CMP Nationals. 

During her winning performances, Cameron set a new overall and MCJROTC national record in the Junior Olympic competition with a finals score of 443.9 and two new national overall and MCJROTC records for her outstanding finals score of 448.8 in the CMP match.

Cameron, who served as captain of the Nation Ford team for three years, will be taking her talents to North Georgia University where she’ll compete on the school’s own rifle team.

Nation Ford was also the leading sporter team each day of the National Three-Position Air Rifle Championship while fielding a third and second place team and five top three individual finishes. Unsurprisingly, Nation Ford was the high scholastic team in both matches.

Other placing teammates were Kyle Orr, 18, who earned third and second place wins, respectively, as Samantha Zermeno, 17, added another third place finish in the CMP Nationals event. Nation Ford’s Abril DeCastro, 16, landed in eighth place in the Junior Olympic match.

Also earning a spot on the podium was Tha Dah, 17, of Des Moines Central MCJROTC from Iowa, who claimed second place in the Junior Olympic match.

Along with medals, the leading eight individuals of the CMP Three-Position Match received monetary awards from the CMP: $1,000 for first through third and $500 for fourth through eighth. Teams received their own funds from the CMP: $2,000 for third, $3,000 for second and $4,000 for first.

The CMP also presented $1,000 scholarships to the top three placing graduated seniors of the event. This year’s recipients were Maya Cameron, Kyle Orr and Tha Dah.

Additional results of the 2022 National Three-Position Air Rifle Championship:

CMP National Individuals:

1. Maya Cameron, 18, Nation Ford MCJROTC, South Carolina 
2. Kyle Orr, 18, Nation Ford MCJROTC, South Carolina
3. Samantha Zermeno, 17, Nation Ford MCJROTC, South Carolina
4. Mallory Johnson, 16, Cookeville High School, Tennessee
5. Tha Dah, 17, Des Moines Central MCJROTC, Iowa
6. Kaitlyn Hawk, 17, North Pole High School, Alaska
7. Julia Winstrom, 16, Kimball Dead Eye Shooters, Nebraska
8. Hope Dobek, 17, Des Moines Central Marine Corps JROTC, Iowa

CMP Nationals Teams:

1. Nation Ford High School JROTC, South Carolina (Maya Cameron, Kyle Orr, Abril DeCastro, Samantha Zermeno)
2. Nation Ford High School JROTC, South Carolina (Liam Hunter, Kees Vandergriff, Jennifer Zermeno, Caroline Audette)
3. Daniel Boone High School, Tennessee (Jake Moody, Cavin Osborn, Nanchaya Bailey, Zachary Higgins)

Junior Olympics National Individuals:

1. Maya Cameron, 18, Nation Ford MCJROTC, South Carolina
2. Tha Dah, 17, Des Moines Central MCJROTC, Iowa
3. Kyle Orr, 18, Nation Ford MCJROTC, South Carolina
4. Kaitlyn Hawk, 17, North Pole High School, Alaska
5. Seth Carver, 18, Warrenton Rifles, Virginia
6. Taylar Crane, 16, X-Men Club, Minnesota
7. Kaden Harris, 17, Madison Mavericks, Texas
8. Abril DeCastro, 16, Nation Ford High School MCJROTC, South Carolina

Junior Olympic Teams:

1. Nation Ford High School JROTC, South Carolina (Maya Cameron, Kyle Orr, Abril DeCastro, Samantha Zermeno)
2. Daniel Boone High School, Tennessee (Jake Moody, Cavin Osborn, Nanchaya Bailey, Zachary Higgins)
3. Nation Ford High School JROTC, South Carolina (Liam Hunter, Kees Vandergriff, Jennifer Zermeno, Caroline Audette)

The CMP would like to thank Larry and Brenda Potterfield of the MidwayUSA Foundation for providing generous donations to winning teams of the CMP 3PAR National event to be used toward their respective endowment accounts. The MidwayUSA Foundation is a 501c(3) public charity that helps communities and organizations raise funds to support youth shooting teams and activities today and into the future. 

The National Three-Position Air Rifle Championship for precision athletes is set to be held back at the Gary Anderson CMP Competition Center July 13-15. For a complete list of results of all stages of the National Three-Position Air Rifle Championship, visit the CMP’s Competition Tracker page at https://ct.thecmp.org/2022N3PARCResults. Photos of each event may be viewed and downloaded for free at https://cmp1.zenfolio.com/f65061194.