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West Forsyth Marksmanship Star Commits to Jacksonville State University
UPDATE: Debi Weiser has committed to the Jacksonville State University Gamecocks rifle team. She officially retired from JROTC on May 26 with a ranking in the top 0.01% of the top 1.0% of all JROTC marksmen in the country. Weiser expressed her appreciation to her team at West Forsyth and wished them the utmost success as she and they progress in the sport.
"Our coaches and the team have worked very hard this year to ensure that we succeeded in our goals. I wish I could be with them, but I have to train this summer for the NCAA. I will be watching their scores as the match progresses. I'll miss my teammates, but I can't wait to join JSU and learn under the leadership of Coach Ron Frost."
April 3, 2023 – When Debi Weiser came to West Forsyth High School four years ago, there wasn’t a marksmanship team for her to be a part of. Last month, she led her school in a second consecutive championship-winning effort at the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s Junior Olympic State Championships. That’s just the tip of the iceberg for what has become a legendary high school marksmanship career.
Weiser started shooting competitively as a freshman, but she’s been training in marksmanship since she was eight years old. Her father, a former high school marksman himself, instilled a strong work ethic in her and encouraged her to make as much of her skills as she could. The pair estimate that she’s taken over half a million shots during her lifetime, and she appreciates the degree of fine-tuning she can put into her shot that shows up in her results.
“It’s very concrete and individual,” Weiser said. “Whatever I do, I know that I did it myself.”
An extensive list of accolades Weiser has racked up in the last four years include four consecutive WS/FCS JROTC championships, a bronze medal at West Point’s 2022 Black Knights Open, a silver medal at the 2023 United States Army Marksmanship Units Junior Air Rifle Championship, individual bids to the CMP’s Junior Olympics and USA Shooting’s National Championship, and the first ever back-to-back victories in the NC American Legion State Championship to name just a few. It’s a rare level of success and consistency that only comes from relentless commitment to perfecting her craft.
“Debi is a natural marksman, but that’s not enough to succeed,” said Richard Weiser, Debi’s father and coach. “She has the mental strength it takes on the firing line to be the best; in any given match, she’s always a contender. In addition, she trains harder than any other marksman I’ve worked with, putting in two or more hours a day six times a week.”
That skill and dedication has been invaluable in rebuilding West Forsyth’s marksmanship program, which had been defunct for several years. The team started off humbly with minimal equipment and interested members, but a few seniors who have stuck with the program have shown remarkable growth and pushed the team into national championship contention in a staggeringly short time. Weiser’s leadership has been one piece of the puzzle for the team’s meteoric rise.
“It’s neat seeing this team starting off with nothing, and now this year, we’re shooting for a national championship,” said Major Richard Sugg from West Forsyth’s JROTC. “It’s been incredible to watch.”
Looking beyond graduation, Weiser’s future in marksmanship is looking bright. She’s fielding NCAA offers from Wofford College, Jacksonville State University, and West Point, and the Olympics are looking like a matter of “when” more than “if”. She’s excited to test her abilities against more and more intense levels of competition in the next few years, but wherever she ends up, she’ll remember how important her team at West Forsyth was to her development as an athlete.
“We’ve only known each other for four years, but we’ve all grown really close,” she said. “I’m proud of us all for getting to where we are.”