Statesboro High School’s Katlyn Sullivan has won Georgia’s 2024 Riflery State Championship, and this young markswoman is gaining stature in Olympic and national competitions.
“This feels incredible,” Sullivan said after her state win. “All the hard work and practice throughout the season truly paid off. I’m so proud to represent Statesboro High School and bring this championship home.”
The victory, a first for Sullivan and Statesboro High School, marks a significant achievement for Katlyn and her school. The Georgia High School Association’s Riflery State Championship was held in Waycross on March 16, at the Ware County Shooting Complex. Sullivan’s precision and focus proved to be a winning combination as she topped the individual leaderboard in the three-position air rifle competition.
“The competition tests marksmanship skills from prone, standing, and kneeling positions, demanding both physical control and focus,” said Lt. Col. Eric Heffner, a Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corp instructor at Statesboro High, and the school’s riflery head coach.
While this is her first state championship, Sullivan has already been successful in several other state and national competitions. In addition to competing for Statesboro High School Riflery, Sullivan also shoots competitively for the Shooting Sports Education Center’s club team in Statesboro, she has represented the Statesboro American Legion Post 15 in national competitions, and is a three-time Junior Olympics qualifier for USA Shooting. She has also begun competing in competitions designed to showcase high school talent to prospective college riflery teams.
Sullivan has qualified and been invited by USA Shooting to the National Rifle Junior Olympic Championships for the past three years, competing well and rising in the national ranks with each competition and striving toward her goal of possibly competing in an Olympics. Olympic Trials are a three-stage competition and shooters must complete all three stages. The top two shooters and one alternate represent the United States in the Olympics, which for 2024, are in Paris, France. During this year’s trials which were held in September 2023 in Fort Moore, Georgia, December 2023 in Colorado Springs, and January 2024 in Anniston, Alabama, Sullivan ranked 24th out of 79 shooters. Those shooters ranged in age from high school and college students to adult marksmen. They also included some past olympians.
In July 20-22, 2023, Sullivan competed in the American Legion 3-Position Junior Air Rifle Championship at the Olympic Training Center USA Shooting range in Colorado Springs, and despite competing while under the weather, she still came away with marks that were a personal best which kept her motivated for future national competitions.
In July, 2023, Sullivan also travelled to Port Clinton, Ohio, to the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s Camp Perry, for a week’s worth of national-level competitions. She won first place in the National 3-Position Air Rifle Junior Olympic Championships and second place in the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s National Championship for her Under 17 age group. For all age categories competing in these competitions, she ranked 13th and 15th respectively out of 260 competitors. She also competed in the Smallbore Nationals and Air Rifle Nationals where she was able to shoot a personal best in smallbore 50 meters.
In September 2023, she also competed in the Ole Miss Rifle Open and tied for sixth overall out of 24 shooters. She shot personal bests in both air rifle and smallbore at the competition. This event was designed to give college teams a chance to scout prospective high school athletes and possibly offer them positions on their teams as they ready to graduate.
The fact that Sullivan, since she was a high school freshman, has been invited to the highest levels of national competitions in her sport, speaks to her talent and possible future.
