Editor's Note: This article was originally published in the October 2008 issue of NRA InSights. Enjoy this #ThrowbackThursday tale about one remarkable young shooter. Danielle, if you're out there, we'd love to hear from you!
At 4 feet, 6 inches and 79 pounds, Danielle Makucevich, a 10-year-old fifth grader from Portsmouth, Rhode Island, looks more like a gymnast than an experienced rifle shooter. Despite her diminutive size and young age, Danielle, an NRA Life Member, has become quite a force on the range.
As the youngest competitor in the 2008 National Junior Olympics in Colorado Springs, Colorado, she was also the youngest shooter at the National State Games of America (also held in Colorado Springs), the NRA 3-Position Air Rifle National Championships in Akron, Ohio, and Camp Perry’s 100-year anniversary National Smallbore Rifle Prone Championships during the summer of 2007.
While Danielle’s interest in shooting can be attributed to her parents’ involvement in the sport, her accomplishments are the result of her own hard work. A member of Newport Rifle Club's Junior Team, Danielle has placed first or second sub-junior in nearly every local sectional or regional competition she’s fired since 2007. Most recently, she hammered a 541/600 in the NRA Junior 3-Pos. Air Rifle Sectional, posting a most impressive standing score of 176/200!
Among her future goals are to make the US National Shooting Team and compete on a collegiate level. This straight-A student and multi-sport athlete (she also competes in hockey, soccer and softball), is off to a great start!
