SEAFORD, Va. — Every athlete, serious about their sport, dreams of the Olympics. Junior athletes are no different when dreaming of the Junior Olympics, but coaches know how rare it is to send an athlete to this level of competition. To send four athletes in the same year is almost unheard of but, for coaches John Hullender and Jason Stout of Lafayette Gun Club in Yorktown, Virginia, this is their reality.

Three of their four-man precision air rifle team and one member of their air pistol team will be representing the area in the 2021 Junior Olympics. However, this is not the first time this duo has coached greatness, this coaching team had the honor of sending 4 precision, and five sporter shooters to the American Legion Virginia State finals, and their smallbore team finished 3rd in the State this year.

This year, athletes Victoria Koenig (Tabb High), Brandon Evans, and Matthew Stout (both from Poquoson High) will represent Lafayette Gun Club during the 2021 Air Rifle Junior Olympics from May 12th – 16th, in Hillsdale, Michigan. All three athletes have been competing for only two years, but through dedication to the sport and long hours on the range they have achieved the dream. Coach Jason Stout will travel with the team to this match.

Makenzieanne Wygans is the representing member of the pistol team, and Coach John Hullender, will be heading to the Colorado Springs Olympic Training Facility for the Air Pistol Junior Olympics from June 16th – 20th. Makenzienne has been competing for years in various other categories and holds numerous awards. Among these are the silver achievement pin in archery, three-time outdoor state champion, and distinguished expert in pistol.

Lafayette Gun Club has been a proud member of the Yorktown Community since 1948, and offers a wide variety of programs from learning to shoot through competition teams at both the junior and adult levels. They proudly sponsor all of their athletes
when traveling and competing.

If this year is any indication of the things to come, it is safe to say that Lafayette Gun Club’s Juniors Program is one to watch as they prepare to send four athletes to the Junior Olympics. The community wishes these athletes the best of luck as they represent Yorktown, Virginia at the national level.

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