Melbourne, Fla., native takes first in firearms speed shooting competition

U.S. Coast Guard Academy Second Class Cadet Jon Sapundjieff, 20, of Melbourne, Fla., poses for a photograph with a trophy and steel shooting target Friday, Dec. 2, 2011, at the academy's gun range in New London, Conn. Spundjieff is one of four team members from the Coast Guard Academy Combat Arms Team who competed in and won the Scholastic Steel Challenge's 2011 Fall Collegiate Championship. U.S. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 1st Class NyxoLyno Cangemi.

A Melbourne, Fla., native is one of four members from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Combat Arms Team who won the Scholastic Steel Challenge’s 2011 Fall Collegiate Championship – a firearms speed shooting competition.

Second Class Cadet Jon Sapundjieff, 20, competed Nov. 12 in Epping, N.H., along with 14 of his classmates from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. In all, 43 competitors from four different colleges competed during the match.

Sapundjieff, along with three other team members from the academy, took first place in the competition.

“I had a good time at the Spring and Fall match this year," said Sapundjieff. "We won both of them and posted pretty good times. We had a good team harmonics and improved dramatically since the Spring match. We also dropped the time significantly as a team and individually."

(From left) U.S. Coast Guard Academy Second Class Cadet Jake Naum, Second Class Cadet Barton Nanney, Rear Adm. Sandra Stosz, Second Class Cadet Jon Sapundjieff and First Class Cadet Alex Webber pose for a photo Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. U.S. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 1st Class NyxoLyno Cangemi

The Scholastic Steel Challenge is a national team-oriented youth shooting program developed by the Steel Challenge Shooting Association and funded in part by a grant from the National Shooting Sports Foundation. The program offers the opportunity to compete as a four-person team for a national title in the action pistol discipline of speed shooting.

“The U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s Combat Arms Team put in an outstanding performance at the Collegiate Spring Championship. As SSC expands at the collegiate level, the cadets are likely to remain at, or near, the top of each match,” said Scott Moore, director of the Scholastic Steel Challenge.

The academy’s three registered squads placed first, fourth and fifth in the challenge.

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