60 shots, 60 moments.

Each shot falls on the shoulders of the shooter when she is on the line. 

Catherine Green aims for the target 50 feet away but she knows the only way to be successful is to be in the moment.

“You got to be there in the moment because if you’re not there, you’re not going to shoot a good shot,” Green said. “You can’t focus on the past and you can’t focus on the future. You have to focus on the one shot.”

Last weekend, Green was in the moment.

The sophomore won the air rifle and smallbore title at the National Junior Olympic Rifle Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo., earning a spot on the National Junior Team. She is the fourth Horned Frog to be named to a national rifle team.

Green is the first team member to win the smallbore event at the National Junior Olympics. She is also the first to win both titles in the same year. 

“This season I’ve been focusing on being more consistent,” Green said. “Focusing on my performance and my mental game has helped me become more consistent.”

Green said she focuses on executing her shot when she is on the line but she has also worked on her self-confidence this season.

“It’s always been difficult and a struggle to have that little voice in the back of your mind telling you that you can’t do it,” she said. “Just being able to fight with that voice and gain my self-confidence. I get better knowing that you build self-confidence the more you practice.”

Head coach Karen Monez said she sees Green making All-American at some point in her four-year career as a Horned Frog, even though she is only in her second year.

“She’s always striving to do well and is willing to put in the time on the practice line to do whatever it takes to get the job done,” Monez said. “I’ve definitely seen her scores improve and her consistency and confidence have contributed to that.” 

Green said one of the most exciting things about rifle is that it was all on her shoulders when she was on the line.

“To know I shot that shot, that was a personal accomplishment,” she said. “Nobody else was behind me pulling the trigger, it was me.”

Rifle is an individual sport but Green acknowledged she could not have made it to where she is today without help.

“I had the help of coach [Monez], my teammates, my family and God getting me to this point where I can go on the line every day and just shoot and enjoy it,” she said. “I am blessed to be here and to be able to be here and do what I do.”

The journey for Green is just beginning.

After her collegiate career comes to a close, Green said she hoped to move to Colorado because of the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. 

“I would like to be an Olympic athlete at the [U.S.] Olympic Training Center, and someday I’m going to win the Olympics for the USA,” Green said.