Emily Yoder, right, holds her bronze medal in Junior Olympic Women’s Air Pistol, with silver medalist Suman Sanghera, left, and gold medalist Eva Allan.

Wolford native Emily Yoder placed in two events at the National Junior Olympics competition at Aniston and Talladega, Alabama.

A member of the North Dakota State University Marksmanship Club, Yoder competed in sport pistol and air pistol. Yoder finished sixth overall in the sport pistol, and made it to the finals in air pistol where she earned a bronze medal finish.

Yoder said the competition is relatively the same as target shooting that is in the Olympics, with air pistols using air canisters and pellets, while sport pistols use .22-caliber pistols.

Yoder has been target shooting since she was introduced to it in seventh grade through the Wolford Public School club.

“I’ve done it for such a long time. I like the focus it requires. You have to be very in tune with yourself, and it’s mostly a mental game. You’d think since it’s a sport it’d be very physical, but a lot of times when people struggle it’s because your mentality gets in the way,” Yoder said. “It’s about taking it step by step, and not worrying about mistakes. It’s about personal improvement, which I enjoy. You’re not competing against other teams necessarily, it’s about beating your personal bests, which I think is different from other sports.”

This competition was Yoder’s last opportunity to compete at the Junior level, but she said plans to continue shooting at the collegiate nationals for NDSU during her senior year. Yoder is an art major with a focus on ceramics.

“That’s always a fun competition to go to. I don’t think it was ever in my plan to try for the Olympics because I know the dedication it takes. It’s just not my priority. It’s just been a really fun thing to do in high school and college. I think I will always continue shooting,” Yoder said.t