By James Day
It’s hard enough to be participating in your first international shooting competition when you are the youngest person at the meet.
But how hard must it be if you add that the shooter’s gear and clothing all disappeared somewhere between Paris and Baku, Azerbaijan (luckily the rifle had been shipped ahead of time)?
“One of the things that you have to learn as an athlete is how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable,” Emily Cock, 16, of Silverton, said after returning to Oregon from her Azerbaijan trip.
“I think being in the situation I was in, there was no better opportunity to train this skill. I had the opportunity to experience all that I did while I was there. Luckily my U.S. teammates all rallied behind me and loaned me equipment so I was able to compete.”
Emily’s mother, Amy, a clinic registration supervisor with Silverton Health’s Woodburn facility, could only wait for news helplessly from 6,500 miles away.
“It is truly amazing,” Amy said. “”She was told four different times that they found her bag, but they truly hadn’t. It was a roller coaster of emotions, but she had the absolute time of her life.
Emily, who took up shooting after injuries curtailed her gymnastics career, qualified for the Azerbaijan event with her performance at a national competition in June in Fort Benning, Georgia. Emily participated in air rifle and small bore at nationals and just air rifle in Azerbaijan.
She picked up the shooting bug from older brother Austin, who be a junior this fall at Jacksonville State in Alabama where he participates on the school’s nationally ranked shooting squad.
“He made it look so easy,” Emily said of Austin. “I figured it would be a breeze, but it actually turned out to be the most frustratingly hard sport I’ve ever tried … and I loved it.”
Emily, whose sister Madison is a diver at the University of Utah, wants to follow in Austin’s footsteps.
“In a few years, I hope to be competing at the collegiate level for a Division I school in the NCAA,” she said. “I also hope to continue shooting internationally with the U.S. team and competing against the best shooters in the world.”
