Precision shooter Maggie Palfrey of Pennsylvania and 2024 sporter winner Alexandra Orr of Virgiia named 2026 American Legion Junior 3-Position Air Rifle National champions.
The 2026 champions of The American Legion’s Junior 3-Position Air Rifle National Finals on Saturday, July 25, in Hillsdale, Mich., included a repeat winner and a new competitor.
Precision champion Maggie Palfrey of Indiana, Pa., and sporter champion Alexandra Orr of Poquoson, Va., held on to their first-position lead headed into the finals held inside the Hillsdale College Halter Shooting Sports Education Center. For Orr, it was her second American Legion national championship, having won the sporter category in 2024.
“It was a lot of pressure going into finals since I won two years ago, I wanted to live up to that,” said Orr, who shoots for the Lafayette Gun Club and is sponsored by American Legion Post 273 in Poquoson. “But it definitely feels nice (to win again).”
Palfrey, who competes with Mountaineer American Legion Post 174 out of Morgantown, W.Va., was nervous headed into the finals as well.
“I've shot a lot of finals but being in first place, going into the final, just a little bit more nerve wracking than I'm used to. I tried to just focus on my process, focus on what I wanted to do and everything, and I'm just so grateful for the experience and being able to call myself a national champion,” she said. “I've only been shooting three-position air rifles since last February, but I've been shooting for about 11 years so just being able to come up in the sport for so long and being able to be at this point, it's just amazing.”
The top eight in both the precision and sporter class fired 10 shots in the standing position.
“The first shot is definitely like really nerve racking because that kind of sets everything else,” Orr said, adding that to keep her composure, “I try not to get too far into my head. I definitely like try to calm myself down, talking to myself a little bit … ‘Lock in. Lock in.’ I try not to overthink any of the shots or anything after. Trust the process.”
Palfrey also focuses on her breathing and self-talk. “I just try to ground myself in the moment, just sometimes I'll even pray, ask God to call my heart, calm my hands, stay focused on him and stay focused on my process.”
Meanwhile, the cheering and ringing of bells from the audience didn’t distract Palfrey from her focus.
“Honestly, with all the noise and everything, it actually helps me mentally because it sort of overpowers my own voice in my head and helps me stay more focused on what I'm doing instead of all the thoughts coming in my brain,” she said.
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Palfrey started shooting when she was 7 years old, following in the footsteps of her two older sisters. Air rifle “has taught me so much discipline and just self-worth,” she said. “And just the discipline it teaches me to control myself, control my emotions on the line of and off. It's just such a great sport to start at a young age.”
And now this fall Palfrey will be on the air rifle team at the University of Kentucky.
“I’m so grateful for that,” she said. “I'm so grateful for this entire experience and this opportunity (at the Legion’s Junior 3-Position Air Rifle National Championship). It's more than I could have ever imagined. Just listening to my coaches say, ‘You're going to go there and do awesome things.’ It's just been amazing to make them proud and make my family proud and my coaches.”
Through her marksmanship journey, Palfrey has had many mentors who have helped her earn championship titles and collegiate level shooting.
“I've had so many people support me,” she said. “My first rifle coach, he passed away about two, two and a half years ago, so just to be able to do this for him and know that without him I wouldn't be where I am today. Both of my sisters have been such amazing support in my life, and my family, and my coaches, has just been so grateful for all of them.”
The advice Palfrey has for peers interested in the sport of air rifle, she said, “Go for it. Just do what you love, enjoy it. You don't have to have everything. You don’t have to start at the top. You can work your way up from the bottom.
“One thing, it's sort of, I'm not sure if it's really something that a lot of young shooters like to hear, but my coach always told me someone has to be last. That's really encouraged me to work harder for where I am now and just be able to work my way up through the sport. It’s been amazing.”
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Palfrey and Orr will each receive a $5,000 scholarship provided by The American Legion and Sons of The American Legion, along with a trip to The American Legion’s 107th national convention in Louisville, Ky., in late August to be honored alongside other American Legion youth champions. Second-place finisher in precision Makenzie Larson of Colorado and sporter Rebecca Ahrens of Virginia will each receive a $1,000 scholarship provided by the American Legion Auxiliary.
Final results for precision competitors:
1. Maggie Palfrey of Pennsylvania, Mountaineer Post 174
2. Makenzie Larson of Colorado, American Legion Post 109
3. Jordan Richards of Tennessee, Seitzland Sting
4. Sarah Mix of Ohio, American Legion Post 295
5. Hypatia Shen of California, Lincoln Rifle Club
6. Naya Talarico of Montana, Gallatin Valley Sharp Shooters
7. Everett Smith of West Virginia, Precision Mason Dixon
8. Viola Allen of Texas, Granbury MCJROTC
Final results for sporter competitors:
1. Alexandra Orr of Virginia, Lafayette Gun Club
2. Rebecca Ahrens of Virginia, Trigger Time 4H
3. Makenna Quick of Nebraska, Guns R Us
4. Elyssa Vazquez of Florida, Mariner AJROTC
5. Elizabeth Gunn of Virginia, American Legion Post 290
6. Kaitlynn Burrell of South Carolina, Walhalla High School
7. Jacqueline Treloar of Montana, Gallatin Valley Sharp Shooters
8. Austin Crawford of South Dakota, Marshall County 4H
- Shooting