![coastguard-1.jpg](/media/nffnn5pn/coastguard-1.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=987&height=551&rnd=132889864065330000&quality=60)
![Helen Oh wins 2019 Spirit of the Sport award.](/media/umzogcyp/helen-oh12.jpg?quality=60)
Coast Guard finished the match with a team aggregate score of 6443. (Score breakdown is 2044 in free pistol, 2186 for standard pistol and 2213 for open air.) Last year's team champion Ohio State finished second with a score of 6358. In third was the U.S. Military Academy at West Point scoring 6238.
Additionally, there were several individual accolades for the Coast Guard pistol team. Helen Oh, a senior, was the individual aggregate winner, completing the match with a 1637 and repeating as champion. Coast Guard teammate and fellow senior Brian Kim followed closely behind Oh, taking the runner-up spot with a score of 1633. Last but not least, freshman Benjamin Waalkes finished in third place with a score of 1618, giving Coast Guard three shooters at the top of the individual aggregate leaderboard.
Brian Kim was strong during Free Pistol qualification with a score of 528, leading Coast Guard to first place in the Team Free Pistol aggregate. He had to settle for runner-up in the Individual Free Pistol final. Kim was seven points shy of the winner, Ohio State's Samuel Gens with 618.2.
![Brian Kim, Coast Guard rifle team](/media/faoeypql/kim-freepistolfinals.jpg?quality=60)
Among her many accomplishments this year, Helen Oh finished third in the Free Pistol individual aggregate with a score of 610.7. In Standard Pistol, Oh was the top shooter with a final score of 553. Notably, one of her Standard Pistol strings was a near-perfect 99. Oh also took top honors in the Women's individual aggregate with a score of 1111. Finally, she won the Women's Air Pistol individual championship for the fourth straight year.
![SIUS Electronic targets at NRA Intercollegiate Pistol Championships](/media/c0wmkgji/helenohtarget1.jpg?quality=60)
Benjamin Waalkes was at the top of the Open Air Pistol individual standings with a final score of 662.6. Going into the final his qualification score was the second highest in the field with 564. In a standout performance he came back from a 0.9 deficit after the ninth shot, subsequently firing a 10.6 to Ohio State pistol shooting powerhouse Anthony McCollum's 9. Waalkes' final score surpassed McCollum's score of 661.9 by a slim margin of .7 points.
A full match report will be published in a future edition of the digital magazine.
Photos by John Rickards