Eighteen-year-old Anna Behnke of Shiocton, Wisconsin has always been competitive. She grew up playing baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball, and basketball, but hated when some of those sports made her go inside. “It was just not where my heart was until I found shooting,” Anna said.
Always active and outside, Anna fired her first firearm at age four and grew up around guns and hunting. When a family friend introduced her brother to smallbore, Anna followed, starting with a local club in 2016. She progressed to air rifle before discovering high power in 2020. It’s an unspoken rule among most junior teams that you cannot start shooting long range until you earn your Distinguished Rifleman’s Badge. Anna earned hers in 2022 at age 15, starting her most recent venture into Palma shooting. High power service rifle and long range are currently Anna’s primary focus. She shoots smallbore in the winter for practice and to keep up her skills during the cold Wisconsin winters.
Anna has made the Rifle President’s 100 twice, once in 2022 and again this year, also claiming top junior honors in high power’s biggest match of the year. She has claimed a number of individual awards, perhaps most notable being the only woman to ever earn the Golden Eagle trophy twice in its 62-year history. This trophy is awarded to the high junior competitor in the National Trophy Individual Match. Anna claimed this honor back-to-back in 2024 and 2025.
In another first, Specialist Amber Kingshill of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit became the second woman in history to win the Mountain Man Trophy. This trophy is awarded to the high-scoring competitor in an aggregate of the President’s 100 Rifle Match, National Trophy Individual Rifle Match, and National Trophy Team Match. Anna was top junior and 10th overall in the Mountain Man Aggregate, only nine points behind Kingshill!
While shooting is often considered an individual sport, there is a team aspect that has greatly contributed to Anna’s success. She competes and trains as a member of Wisconsin’s state junior team, Wisconsin Force. “My teammates are always pushing to beat each other,” Anna said, “and that helps us become better as a team. When I get to the point where my only goal is to beat one of my teammates, it drives both of us to become better and shoot better.”
This has worked out exceptionally well for Wisconsin Force--no stranger to the national stage. They generally field several teams, each creatively named after cheeses. In 2024, Wisconsin-Cheddar claimed the Soldier of Marathon Civilian Trophy and the Minuteman Junior Trophy in the National Trophy Team Match (NTT). Wisconsin-Mozzarella, Wisconsin-Colby, and Wisconsin-Cheddar took the top three spots in the 2024 Freedom’s Fire Two-Man Junior Team Match, and Wisconsin-Cheddar won the overall Infantry Trophy for their performance in the National Infantry Trophy Team Match.
This was incredibly impressive, as not only were they the top junior and civilian team, but they also bested all military teams. This is only the second time in National Matches history — over 100 years — that a junior team claimed the Infantry Trophy. Wisconsin-Cheddar’s score of 1361 also set a new Junior National Record and Civilian National Record score. Anna fired on Wisconsin-Cheddar for all of these matches and served as team captain in the NTT, making her Captain of the 2024 National Civilian Rifle Team.
In 2025, she earned her place as a firing member on the National Civilian Rifle Team. Making the six-man Civilian Elihu Root National Team is one of the highest honors around. This year was Anna’s third time making the National Junior Rifle Team and first time as Captain of the team. The National Junior Rifle Team (Colonel William L. “Bill” Deneke Trophy) is composed of the top six scoring junior competitors in an aggregate of the President’s 100, National Trophy Individual Rifle Match, and National Trophy Junior Team Match. This year Anna also fired a 495-17x out of 500, putting her as the top junior in the National Trophy Junior Team Match and taking her team, Wisconsin-Cheddar, to first place.
“Always beating myself is the goal,” Anna said. “Setting a Personal Record is one of the greatest feelings of the sport because you just proved that you could beat yourself and beat yourself again. When you get to the point that it's so hard to beat yourself again, you'll probably be towards the top, and that's a pretty great feeling.”
As much as she loves winning, Anna also has a great respect for and appreciation of the community. “You don't meet a community the same anywhere else. When something goes wrong on your gun, someone's always there to help you out, give you a hand. They want you to succeed because it's so fun to watch others succeed at this sport, even if you can't, and that's part of the friendly competition.” Anna helps coach developing members of her team and is always willing to pay it forward. Coaching has also helped Anna become a better wind reader.
Anna doesn’t have any official sponsors, but shared the gear that has been working for her. She competes with a White Oak Armament Distinguished Rifleman Scope, Brux barrel, Geissele or Wisconsin Trigger, and Sierra 77 Grain and 80 Grain MatchKing Bullets. She loads all of her own ammunition, and has been doing so before she could drive. “I always had Dad there to help me learn, but now it's turned into I load all of my own ammo, and all of his ammo as well.”
While it hasn’t yet set in for Anna that she is a multi-time Junior National Champion, she recognizes that her performance is indicative of her hard work and the efforts of those like her dad who have supported her.
“My dad is probably my biggest supporter. Any match I want to go to he will help me find a way to get there and shoot. I have to push him to shoot sometimes because sometimes he doesn't want to go shoot with me.” Anna’s father, Kevin Behnke, started shooting high power a few months before Anna. “I love shooting with my dad,” Anna shared, “Even though he doesn't listen all the time.”
She also praised her junior coaches. “I could not be anywhere near the spot I am in without their help, especially Kaleb Hall. 'Big Cheese' is what we call him, the big cheese with the little curds [juniors]. And we would be nowhere near as good of an infantry trophy team if it was not for Michael Stewart.”
“Every time you shoot, you learn something new about yourself,” Anna said. She encourages others to focus on their position and process as well as to challenge themselves. Anna aspires to make the President’s 100 shoot-off while still a junior, a goal she fell short of this year by a mere two points. She is also working towards making the official U.S. National Rifle Team (USNRT) and competing on the world stage. (She is already well on her way as the 2025 CMP Mid-Range Junior National Champion.) Outside of traditional competition, Anna wants to shoot and complete the Mammoth Sniper Challenge, a match known for its physical difficulty. She is starting school at the University of Wisconsin Platteville with plans to become mechanical engineer.
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