Camp Perry Veteran, Olympic Silver Medalist Highlights CMP’s 2025 First Shot Ceremony
Posted on: Jul 22, 2025
Article posted at https://thecmp.org/camp-perry-veteran-olympic-silver-medalist-highlights-cmps-2025-first-shot-ceremony/CAMP PERRY, Ohio – On July 14, the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) hosted the annual First Shot Ceremony (the traditional start to the century-old National Matches) and welcomed back an accomplished athlete who has taken her career from the grounds of Camp Perry to the world stage.
The weather was hot, but the infamous winds of the Camp Perry National Guard Training Facility, where the Matches have been held since 1907, cascaded through the crowd of competitors and guests to offer some relief.
As visitors arrived, the 122nd Army Band played lively tunes in the plaza while vintage vehicles from Timeless Ts Model T Club and Firelands Military Vehicle Group lined the roadside. Guests were able to walk up to each vehicle, which included a retro police car, and some were even given private rides around base. A Gillmor Ordnance-crafted cannon, like those the company has built for such feature films as Master & Commander, Antietam, Gods and Generals, The Last Samurai and Emancipation, gave multiple blasts to the thrill of the crowd watching on.
In the skies above, the U.S. Army Air Corps Mitchell B-25 bomber (Georgie’s Gal) and a U.S. Navy Grumman TBM Avenger fighter-bomber from Port Clinton’s Liberty Aviation Museum buzzed by – with an explosion from a controlled pyrotechnic on the ground simulating a dropped bomb marking their final pass.
Christie Sewell, CMP’s Chief Programs Officer, served as emcee of the event – introducing such distinguished guests as Brig. Gen. Matthew Woodruff (Adjutant General of Ohio), Chaplain Andrew Courtney (Ohio Army National Guard), senior leaders of the Ohio National Guard and Michael Snider (mayor of Port Clinton). CMP Board members were also in attendance as well as Director of Civilian Marksmanship Emeritus, Gary Anderson.
After brief remarks from CMP’s Board Chair and CEO, Jerry O’Keefe, Sewell introduced the 2025 honorary First Shot Speaker, Staff Sgt. Sagen Maddalena of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit.
Maddalena (currently the number-one-ranked 50-meter smallbore athlete in the world) has devoted her life to the sport of marksmanship – finding some of her earliest successes at Camp Perry as a talented junior before leading her to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, where she earned a silver medal during the women’s 50-meter rifle three-position event.
She began as a junior in her local California 4-H .22 rifle program and moved on to the California Grizzlies service rifle team. There, she achieved several successes, including the National Matches junior team Whistler Boy Trophy in 2011 and the Freedom’s Fire Trophy in the Junior Rifle Team Match in 2013.
During that time, she also earned a Distinguished Rifleman badge in 2011 and claimed a spot in the prestigious National Matches President’s Hundred as a junior in 2010 and 2011.
As she searched for more challenges, she decided to move her career to the Alaska Fairbanks rifle team, where she was a red-shirted walk-on for her first season in 2013. She went on to become an eight-time All-American and even competed in the World Cup in 2014 and 2018.
In March 2019, she enlisted in the U.S. Army and was ultimately assigned to the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit. A year later, she made her Olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo Games – reaching fifth overall in the three-position event. Maddalena kept her confidence to become a triple-Distinguished markswoman – adding an International Badge in 2022 and an Air Rifle 60-Shot Badge in 2023.
Also in 2023, she earned a gold medal and set a new world record in the women’s team 50-meter rifle three-position event at the 2023 ISSF World Championships. She went on to add another two gold medals in the women’s 50-meter smallbore rifle and 10-meter air rifle events at the 2024 CAT Games in Argentina. It was there she secured the Olympic quota for the United States that she eventually filled on her way to achieving her silver-medalplacing.
“Oh, Camp Perry – it is good to be back,” she opened as she took the First Shot podium, with a smile.
She reminisced about sleeping on the cots of the old Camp Perry huts and her time as a junior on the California Grizzlies, especially the words her coach spoke to her.
“Every morning, a new sun rises, and each day is a new opportunity,” she remembered him saying, repeating the wisdom to the crowd.
“Setting a record or winning an Olympic medal does not mean I’ll have the same experience and success again,” she went on. “It takes discipline. It takes commitment, and it takes hard work.”
She applied the sentiment to competition or even taking a single shot on the firing line – reminding those in attendance of the ability to control pathways to success by applying a mindset of letting go of expectations and allowing self-confidence to shine through.
“You take away those expectations and you replace them with trust in your preparation – trust in the performance. Treat each day as a new opportunity,” she said. “It’s a choice . . . it’s a choice to stay active and present in the moment. It’s a choice to follow that dream in your heart or to let that dream sit lonely, longing for action.”
She then thanked the community and all those who helped to make the National Matches a success – from CMP’s staff and volunteers to Camp Perry itself.
“Let us give it our best in competition and treat each day as a new opportunity to challenge ourselves and to excel,” she concluded.
Maddalena then walked to the staging area on Camp Perry’s Rodriguez Range and prepared her equipment, including the U.S. 1903 Springfield Rifle she used to fire the ceremonial shot. She placed the celebrated American firearm on her shoulder, aimed and pulled the trigger – officially opening the National Matches for the 2025 season.
Special thanks to Fiocchi Ammunition for sponsoring the 2025 National Matches First Shot Ceremony, to the Ohio National Guard, the city of Port Clinton and to Steve Cooper, who came out of retirement from the CMP to help coordinate the festivities at this year’s event.
The National Matches is happening now! The 118th National Matches will run now through Aug. 9, featuring smallbore rifle, air gun, pistol, highpower rifle, vintage rifle and long range rifle events for adults and juniors of all experience levels.
Outside of competition, the National Matches is home to several purchasing options for your marksmanship needs through the CMP North Store (open year-round), where you’ll currently find special event pricing on our exclusive Tisas 1911 pistols!
The store is also carrying our new ammo collaboration with Creedmoor Sports, featuring a .30-06 caliber, 150 grain bullet designed with the competitive community in mind. Like the Tisas, the Creedmoor ammo will be offered at special National Matches pricing: 15 percent off 20-round box, 20 percent off a case (five boxes).
Also find the ammo at Creedmoor's store on Commercial Row, which includes numerous vendors and is open throughout the National Matches.
Learn more about the 2025 National Matches at https://thecmp.org/cmp-national-matches/. Come be part of the tradition!
View a recap video of the First Shot Ceremony at https://youtu.be/R0I9OJgCwT8?si=BSea_CAHfYUX3npM.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program is a federally chartered 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation that places its highest priority on firearms safety and marksmanship activities, with a focus on youth. CMP’s programs encourage personal growth and build life skills, with such initiatives as its junior training and competition programs, Affiliated Club program and scholarships providing support to citizens of all backgrounds across the nation. Learn more about the CMP at https://thecmp.org/.