As the Winter Olympic games quickly approach, many wait, eagerly anticipating success for their home country. The Olympic games have come to be a time of great pride for participating countries, and even more so the hometowns of competing athletes.

You may not have known it, but St. Francis has a new Olympic promise; Abby West. A senior, West is a competitive precision shooter and has been for the past five years. At a recent competition, West defended her state champion title and earned a chance to be on the Olympic developmental team.

“Last Saturday [January 18, 2014] I shot a match to qualify for the Junior Olympics, and I was the overall match winner,” said West.

In successfully defending her title, Abby shot in the 10m Standing Air Rifle competition. Coming in 2nd place, for the 3 position–standing, kneeling, and prone–Abby missed small bore–.22 Cal–Champion by 1 point. For those unfamiliar with air rifle competition, West explains it as such,

“Precision shooting is shooting at a stationary target against other people in your age group or class,” explains West.

This is not the first time West has been Junior Olympic bound. In 2011, the Crier covered West’s competition at the Junior Olympics in Camp Perry in Port Clinton, Ohio where she placed 62 out of 268 people. Since then, West has made incredible strides in her shooting, and as she looks to the future, West knows shooting will be a big part of it.

“This is the only thing I do. It can get you very far in life. You get recognized a lot more. You can get a scholarship a lot easier than most sports, especially [for] females,” she said in a 2011 interview.

As for this year, West earned her chance for a spot on this year’s Olympic developmental team. Until the competition, she will be honing her skills with her natural competitive and confident attitude.

“In April I will be going to Colorado Springs to shoot at the Olympic Training Center to see if I make it on the developmental team for the Olympics.”