John Russell with his 1st place award
at the PA State Jr. Olympic Championships.
John Russell, an eighth grader at A-C Valley is involved in many activities. At school he enjoys running and is a member of the cross country and track teams. He currently has attained the rank of Life scout with Troop 55 of Ninevah and will be working towards the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout this coming year. However, that time will be split as the young and up and coming jr. marksmen, sets his sites on the bulleseye; competitive shooting.
For Russell, it has been a slow progression, all of which has put him in a good position today. He began shooting for the first time at the age of 5, honing his skills with an air rifle. In August of 2019 at the age of eight, Russell upgraded to a .22. That same year in November, he started shooting with the Venango County 4-H Deadeye marksmanship club.
Russell is a member of the Oil City Junior Rifle Team where he started practicing at the age of nine. The team primarily shoots both precision air rifles (0.177) and precision 22 “smallbore” rifles (.22) which happens to be his main area of interest.
The air rifle matches can be all standing or 3 positions (prone, kneeling, and standing). Smallbore matches are mostly 3 positions but there are a few that add a fourth position.
Smallbore matches can be shot at 50 feet or 50 meters.
Russell carefully takes aim down range at the target.
Russell who loves the challenge, has also begun shooting with the high power rifle (service rifle (AR-15). While there are reduced course there are reduced course matches shot all at 100 or 200 yards, a full course match is standing at 200, sitting rapid fire at 200, prone rapid fire at 300, and prone slow fire at 600 yards. He even has his own M1 Garand (30-06) which he shoots at 100 yards.
Russell’s accomplishments have grown over the past several years. Just this year, he has garnished a 3rd place finish nationwide in his age group (Under 15) in the NRA 3 Position Smallbore Sectional; a 2nd place nationwide in the NRA 4 Position Smallbore Sectional; Distinguished Title Award in the Project Appleseed Shoot with a 242/250 score shooting a 10/22.
Russell carefully takes aim down range at the target.
In January of 2024 he earned 1st place at the PA Junior Olympic State Championship in the Men’s Smallbore in the Under 15 division.
In 2023 the youngster was on a 4 person team who placed first nationwide in the Intermediate Junior age group (18 and under) shooting in the NRA 4 Position Sectional. They placed 2nd nationwide for all juniors under 21.
That same year he competed in the Summer Biathalon (running 3.6 miles and shooting 22’s).
Russell’s latest accomplishment this past July landed him a top finish at the CMP Junior Rifle Camp for precision air rifle standing.
To help the cause, for John’s birthday this past spring, he asked for donations to help support his team throughout the year. Donations can be sent through the MidwayUSA Foundation which are normally matched at 100% as any donation doubles the money for his Oil City Junior Rifle Team. The team helps kids with match fees, travel expenses, practice ammo, targets and gear. They also provide instructions to new shooters almost every Friday evening starting around 5:30 pm at Izaak Walton in Oil City. (ammo, gear, and rifles provided).
For Donations through the MidwayUSA Foundation, the team name is Oil City Junior Rifle Team and the Team ID is R5571. Donations are matched by the Potterfields, normally at 100%. https://www.midwayusafoundation.org/team-profile/?id=R55715
John is the son of Nate and Melissa Russell of Emlenton and the grandson of Frank and Irene Russell of West Home and Art and Janet Keefer of Perry Township.
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