The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG – Walla Walla High School senior Madeline Erikson officially accepted her appointment to the US Military Academy at West Point by signing her letter of intent to compete on their NCAA Rifle Team on March 29.

Erikson did not attend school in Waitsburg, but three previous generations of her family did. She is the daughter of Ellis and Kristin Erikson of Walla Walla and Trisha Maxwell of Walla Walla; granddaughter of Roland Erikson and Sherri Erikson, both of Waitsburg; and great-granddaughter of the late Betty Jo and Bernard Donnelly, of Waitsburg. Many Waitsburg residents will recall Bernard as an avid firearms collector.

According to a Walla Walla School District news release, Erikson enrolled in the JROTC Rifle Marksmanship class as a freshman and is the second Wa-Hi rifle athlete to sign with West Point in two years.

"I took rifle marksmanship as an elective. I hunt and shoot with my dad, so I thought it would be a good way to improve my accuracy. I never really thought of it as a varsity sport," Erikson said.

Erikson, who also played softball and basketball, quickly became competitive and returned as a sophomore to take the advanced marksmanship class. By her junior year she held the position of JROTC squad leader at the rank of cadet staff sergeant. She helped instruct new cadets and made her first appearance at a national championship match last year.

"I traveled with the team to the Army National Match at Camp Perry, Ohio in February during Winter Storm Neptune. It was 20 degrees below zero and blowing clouds of ice crystals. I'll never forget that trip," Erikson said.

A solid performance in the Army National finals solidified her standing on the highly competitive sporter class team, and she traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah, in April for the CMP Western Regional Championship.

"On the second day of the match, Madeline's rear sight on her rifle broke while she was in the middle of her kneeling set," said Wa-Hi Rifle Coach Mark Mebes "I saw the ball bearing go skipping across the floor. She just smiled, shrugged and started adjusting her point of aim based on her last shot. She still walked away with a score over 500. It takes real mental toughness to recover from an equipment failure like that and not let it ruin your score. That was when I decided to move her up to the precision team."

Erikson moved from sporter class to Olympic-Style shooting at the end of her junior year and decided she wanted to work her way onto the NCAA team. Realizing that it would be a challenge to gain the notice of a college coach in just one year, Erikson approached Mebes and told him she wanted to shoot at West Point.

Erikson said she spent last summer shooting as much as she could, attended a marksmanship camp in Lebanon, Oregon, and began contacting college coaches. By December, several coaches had responded, and the University of Texas El Paso flew her down for an official NCAA visit.

Erikson said she really had her heart set on West Point and, even though their recruitment process is longer than other NCAA schools, she wanted to know where she stood with them before accepting another offer.

In February, her ROTC team traveled to the JROTC National Championship in Anniston, Ala., where, unknown to Erikson, West Point Rifle Coach Web Wright III, was in the audience. Web talked with her after her performance and told her he was pleased with her scores. A week later, she received a phone call from Wright.

"I answered my phone and the whole team was standing there watching me. When he told me that West Point was recruiting me I gave them a thumb's up. Everyone was hugging me while I was still on the phone with him. It was one of the best moments of my life," Erikson said.

"We are all very, very proud of Madeline," said grandmother Sherri Erikson.

Erikson will report for Basic Cadet Training and begin academy classes on June 27.