Emily Ozohonish, rifle
Emily Ozohonish always strives for the best that is available.
That鈥檚 why the senior at Jefferson-Morgan High School is quite proud of the accomplishments she and her Waynesburg Central rifle teammates pulled off together.
It鈥檚 also why Ozohonish, who maintains a 3.9 GPA at J-M, doesn鈥檛 just want to become a nurse. She wants to become a nurse practitioner.
Because of those traits, Ozohonish is Jefferson-Morgan鈥檚 winter sports female selection in the Centennial Chevrolet Scholar/Athlete Spotlight program. A daughter of Jim and Tracy Ozohonish, of Clarksville, she has one sister, eighth-grader Abby, who plays volleyball and shoots rifle.
鈥淚鈥檒l be going to Waynesburg University to get my BSN in nursing, which is a four-year program,鈥� Ozohonish explained. 鈥淭hen, I will go to WVU. It鈥檚 usually all on-line in the nurse practitioner program and it takes two years.鈥�
So, what鈥檚 the difference between a nurse and a nurse practitioner?
鈥淎 nurse practitioner is kind of like a PA. It is the highest level you can go in nursing,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou have to have your nursing degree and once you get it, you are in charge of all the nurses.鈥�
She wasn鈥檛 quite in charge of the rifle team at Waynesburg, which invites J-M shooters as a co-op program. But Ozohonish is quite proud of the team and her participation on it. Waynesburg Central won the Section 1 championship this season and she became the only J-M shooter to advance to the state championships.
鈥淚t was the first time ever that Waynesburg won the section,鈥� Ozohonish said. 鈥淲ill they do it again next year, I don鈥檛 know. We are losing a lot of seniors.鈥�
She doesn鈥檛 plan to shoot rifle in college because it is a more intricate procedure in college than it is in high school.
鈥淚n order to be considered for a college team, you have to be able to do three positions: kneeling, standing and perm. High school just does perm,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 never got into the kneeling or standing. Rifle is my major sport, my only sport, so I might look into coaching maybe. I don鈥檛 want to just give it up entirely.鈥�
She also is a member of the Hunting Hills Hawkeyes, a Greene County shooting club. 鈥淲e鈥檒l be starting up soon, actually.鈥�
鈥淚 started shooting for the school when I was a freshman, but I actually started shooting before that in 4H rifle and my parents always encouraged me in that,鈥� Ozohonish said. 鈥淚 grew up with hunting and fishing, so they always encouraged me to do well, to get better. If I didn鈥檛 have their support, I don鈥檛 think I would have loved the sport as much as I do.鈥�
Ozohonish learned rather quickly that rifle is a disciplined sport, as opposed to sports that encourage heavy doses of adrenaline.
鈥淭hey say shooting rifle is 90 percent in your head,鈥� Ozohonish said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a mental game. It鈥檚 all in your head. In other sports, like volleyball or basketball, it鈥檚 all based on adrenaline.鈥�
She is also the president of the yearbook.
鈥淚 got involved in the yearbook a couple of years ago,鈥� Ozohonish said. 鈥淚 always kind of stuck around the teachers and yearbook sponsors.鈥�
Not surprisingly, it鈥檚 another example of Ozohonish using her head..