Texas Teen Wins Women’s Olympic Shooting National Championship

GAIL, TX –– A 17-year-old Texas teen is making waves in competitive shooting after winning the USA Shooting Women’s Olympic Trap National Championship.

Back in April, Ryann Phillips was selected as part of the Women's National Team with a score of 206.

The Gail, TX native traveled to Michigan, where she qualified for the finals by earning one of the six spots. 

“As long as I could make it to the top six and shoot off for those spots, then I could win that,” said Phillips. "So, we went into finals, and I was understandably nervous, but then we got a couple of shots into it, and I was like, ‘you know, this is fine."

Round after round Phillip made her way down to the very last contest –– a sudden death shoot-off.

“I was watching, but I wasn’t really registering what was happening, because I was like, ‘Oh, she’s going to hit it. We’ll have to shoot a few more targets," said Phillips. "Then she missed, and I was like, Oh!”

Phillips returned home to Gail, but will be traveling to Peru this week to compete at the Junior World Championships.

In addition to becoming one of the youngest women to ever win the USA Shooting Olympic Trap title, Phillips will continue her education with a full-ride scholarship to Tennesee Southern.