Jewish Marksman Josh Black dominates Air Rifle for Ohio State

Regulars to the blog are already familiar with Josh and his sister Hannah, two of the best young competitive shooters in the USA. Josh has been stealing back the spotlight from Hannah with some great recent collegiate performances:

COLUMBUS, Ohio – For the first time since 1991, the Ohio State Rifle Team will be headed to the NCAA Rifle Championships after firing a team record 4685 at the NCAA Qualifier match held Saturday at the Hugh W. Wylie Range in Columbus.

  Leading the way for the Ohio State’s individuals was Josh Black who fired a season best 590. 

Mazal tov and good luck to Josh and Ohio State as they advance in the tournament!

Hannah and Josh Black Profiled in CMP Article

The Civilian Marksmanship Program recently ran an in depth article on Jewish Marksmen Hannah and Josh Black (http://www.odcmp.org/1213/default.asp?page=THEBLACKS).  Interestingly, the article made a point of discussing their Jewishness:

Religion is important to both Hannah and Josh as well. Having grown up with a strong Jewish background, they both directly state that it impacts their everyday lives – it affects how they view the world.
Josh is involved with a Jewish youth group at a Chabad synagogue and is a founding member of a Jewish Scout group. He can also chant Torah.
For Hannah, choosing to go to college at Texas Christian was worrisome at first, but she soon learned that TCU is very accepting of all students, even their Jewish students.

Check it out! (Thanks to Mike for sending the link!)

Jewish Markswoman Hannah Black Awarded TCU Athlete of the Week!

Hannah Black is a freshman at TCU (the Horned Frogs) and a member of the women's rifle team.  Her TCU web page describes her prior shooting accomplishments:

Earned a bronze medal at the 2012 Junior Olympic Shooting Championships... finished ninth overall at 2012 air rifle Olympic Trials... is a four-time National Junior Olympic participant... is the Virginia air rifle state champion... four-time state titlist in air pistol... won the 2010 American Legion National Championship in Air Rifle... personal-bests in 40-shot matches is 394 and 588 in 60-shot matches.

Earlier this week, Hannah was named a TCU "athlete of the week":

Black competed as an individual in the air rifle competition at the NCAA Championships. The freshman posted an aggregate score of 594 before advancing to the finals and shooting a 100.8 to finish in fifth place overall.

Mazal Tov to Hannah!

(Hannah is the sister of Josh Black, another Jewish Marksman).

17 year old Jewish Marksman Josh Black Wins State Title

Jewish Marksman Josh Black, a young air rifle champion, has transitioned to smallbore (.22LR) with great success:

Sarah Osborn’s and Josh Black’s return to small-bore shooting has been rewarded with tickets to the USA Shooting Junior Olympic National Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo., in April.

The duo, representing the local Patriot Shooting Club, earned their tickets by winning state titles in the small-bore qualifying matches held at three locations in the past two months.
The official results weren’t announced until last week.
...
Black, 17, a former Yorktown resident whose family now lives in Richmond, had to win a tiebreaker to take the men’s small-bore title over Daniel Cliff of Fairfax. Both shot scores of 573 out of 600. Black also finished third in air rifle with a score of 573, and second in air pistol with a 521.

Crawford felt winning state in small-bore was a major accomplishment for both Osborn and Black, especially since they hadn’t been competing in that rifle category for more than three years.

“This is a big item on Josh’s résumé for a college scholarship,” Crawford said.

Mazal tov!

Josh Black: Air Rifle Champion

Josh Black recently represented the tribe at the National Junior Olympic air rifle competition in Ohio, where he "won the championship in the 14-15 age group." Mazal Tov! You can read all about it in this great article (click). About shooting, Josh had this to say:

"I just love the sport," said Black, who was introduced to competitive marksmanship as a 12-year-old. "I've loved it from the first time I tried it. There's such a feeling of satisfaction when you hit the target. I enjoy the challenge, too. You're always trying to do better than you did the last time. You're always trying to beat a personal record or improve upon your last performance."

Josh's father chimed in with his view of shooting sports:

"It's actually quite a grueling thing," Scott said. "(Josh) practices five days a week for a couple of hours a day — at least. What he's doing, basically, is practicing the same thing — over and over and over again. Every other sport emphasizes movement and power, but not shooting. In shooting, the less you move, the better you perform. So you learn to concentrate and really lock in (on the target.) You learn to be calm. You learn to immediately forget a bad shot."

The article also mentions his sister Hannah who "earned a $2,500 scholarship by winning the American Legion air rifle championship last summer in Colorado Springs, Colo."