It all ends with Walton wins

Members of the Walton County 4-H BB team, its alternates and former champions all celebrate the group’s accomplishment of winning the Golden Gun trophy for the third time ever.Walton County 4-H BB Team | Contributed

Every athlete strives for perfection, and the members of the Walton County 4-H BB team came as close as they could get at the 59th Daisy National BB Gun Championships in Rogers, Arkansas last weekend.

The two-time national champions officially made it a third on Monday in one of the most lopsided victories the competition has ever seen.

This year’s group of five girls — Violet Combs, Olivia Barth, Aubrey Fendley, Freya Combs and Madisyn Everett — dominated all areas of the competition. They defeated the second-best team by a whopping 57 points to claim the prestigious Golden Gun trophy.

Jaymie Goitia, the team’s 18-year head coach, was blown away by the results, especially by the performance of Violet Combs.

“Violet has been with the team since she was 10 years old, and I don’t think she ever won a match,” Goitia said. “But she went out there and won the whole national tournament, finishing first overall with a 390-out-of-400.

“The team earned the highest score ever shot with a total of 1,928 points out of a possible 2,000,” Goitia added. “They were two points shy of the NRA National BB Gun team record and won by the biggest margin of victory that anyone could remember. It was honestly amazing.”

Violet led the way, but the other four’s contributions were just as important.

Barth was the national runner up after shooting a 387-out-of-400, Fendley was fourth overall after shooting a 385, Freya finished fifth overall with a 384, and Everett finished eighth overall with a 382.

The four shooting events — standing, kneeling, sitting and prone — all went well, but the icing on the cake for the Walton County squad was its results in the test portion of the competition.

All five participants scored a perfect 100 on the test to earn the Paul Teifer Memorial Trophy, as well.

With the exception of Fendley, the other four competed in the event back in 2024 and came up short of their goal.