June 16, 2006

FT. BENNING, Ga. - A day after Army's Chris Abalo finished first in the air rifle tryouts, which earned him a spot in his third event to compete at the World Junior Championships, the rising junior was crowned the junior men's air rifle champion at the 2006 USA Shooting Rifle and Pistol National Championships held at Ft. Benning's International Shooting Complex.

Abalo fired a two-day qualifying score of 1173, then posted a 101.6 in the shoot-off for a 1274.6 composite in besting his nearest opponent, Jonathan Hall, by 5.8 points for a first-place junior finish. His mark ranked seventh in the men's competition, which Sgt. First Class Jason Parker captured with a score of 1293.9.

The native of Glendora, Calif., turned in a strong performance in the tryouts for the World Junior Championships, to be held next month in Zagreb, Croatia, meeting the standard in all three disciplines.

The four-time first team All-American was first in smallbore prone (592) and air rifle (586) along with finishing third in smallbore three-position (1142).

In the two-day qualifier in smallbore prone in the junior event, Abalo fired a 9.9 in the shoot-off to snap a 1279.5 tie to edge Navy's Alex Karacsonyi's (9.1) for runner-up honors.