Eleven years ago, NRA Family held a writing contest, and the then-teenaged Serena Juchnowski won it handily. Over the years, Juchnowski matured into a professional shooter, hunter, and freelance outdoor writer. One of her mainstays is NRA Family's Rising Shooting Stars column, a monthly dispatch from the world of up-and-coming competitive shooters. As a rising shooting star herself, Juchnowski's experiences inform her thoughtful, knowledgeable commentary. Now, Japanese optics company SIGHTRON is partnering with her as its newest brand ambassador.
“We couldn’t be prouder to have someone with Serena’s skillset championing our state-of-the-art riflescopes,” said John Long, Director of Sales, SIGHTRON. “We are fortunate to have someone of Serena’s caliber, experience using and promoting the SIGHTRON brand. “Serena is a proven competitor and an excellent communicator and we look forward to her influence on the competition stage and in the news.”
Serena Juchnowski primarily competes in the high-power service rifle discipline with a .223 AR-15 equipped with a SIGHTRON S-TAC 1-4.5x, Krieger barrel, and Sierra Bullets. She earned the Distinguished Rifleman's Badge in 2019, the highest honor for marksmanship recognized by the U.S. government, and set a Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) National Record at the 2024 National Matches, firing a 200-6x standing at 200 yards out of a possible 200-20x. This standing score contributed to her standing aggregate of 586-16x at the 2024 CMP Cup 2400 during the National Matches, making her top civilian woman and fifth civilian in this category overall.
Serena has earned a number of marksmanship honors including placing as high as 36th in the President’s 100 (18th civilian) and making the Ohio Governor’s 20 and CMP’s Congressional 30 in addition to numerous local and regional awards. Serena also competes in long range and smallbore silhouette competitions while pursuing her Distinguished Pistol Shot Badge.
Her passions lie in introducing people to the outdoors, especially juniors and women, and sharing stories that inspire and educate. She has published over 350 articles in print and digital publications covering firearms, competitive shooting, youth/women, hunting/conservation, concealed carry and more. She is also a coach for Ohio’s junior service rifle team. Congratulations, Serena!
