Sophomore Dorothy Sanidad took first place at the State Junior Olympic Smallbore Championships on Dec. 20, scoring of 552/600, leading by 17 points.

For the second year, Sanidad will represent Hawaii and the Academy at Nationals at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

Sanidad joined air riflery in her eighth grade year, but it took her a year to fully appreciate the sport.

“When I started showing substantial improvement after a year of learning basics, I began to win ranks higher on the JV level. That’s when I took a strong liking to the sport. What finally made me love the sport was when I qualified for Nationals in 2014,” said Sanidad.

Her accomplishments made her realize that she needed to fully commit to the sport.

“It was a humbling experience going to Nationals last year,” Sanidad said. “From my experience, I definitely need to work on dealing with high pressure situations and remaining calm. If I can master handling these situations, I can improve my scores tremendously.”

Seniors Aimee Pak, Angelique Mara, Janelle Inao and Mabel Cheng also competed and placed in the top 20.