Ian Lyons is an unflinching guy who isn't easily excited.

Those are two great traits to possess when you are competing against the best shooters around.

"You have to be really calm because if you're excited, your heartbeat goes up," said Ian. "You get unsteady and don't shoot as well. You have to be very calm and collected. It comes into play at every aspect. For me, I'm just a very calm person, so that helps."

Ian, a senior at Lampeter-Strasburg High School, earned gold, silver, and bronze medals at the PA Interscholastic High School 3-P Smallbore and Precision Air Rifle Championship, held Feb. 14 to 16 at Everett Sportsmen's Club.

In the 3-P (3-position) smallbore competition, participants take 20 shots from a prone position, 20 while kneeling, and 20 while standing. Ian was second overall and the top male finisher. He earned a gold medal as the top scorer in the standing part of the event.

In the air rifle event, where competitors take 60 shots while standing, Ian was third overall in the state and the first male finisher.

"That is what I expected," Ian said. "It was good."

Ian's performance earned him an invitation to the Junior Olympics.

State competitions are viewed as qualifying matches for the Junior Olympics. The cutoff for air rifle is 585 out of 600, and Ian scored 589 with 40x. An x is earned by scoring 10.25 or higher on a shot.

Ian scored a 575 in the smallbore event, where a .22 long rifle is used.

The 2025 Rifle and Pistol National Junior Olympics will be held in Anniston and Talladega, Ala., from Sunday, April 13, to Friday, April 18.

"This is the Junior Olympics, and a lot of the (other) matches, I'm shooting against Olympians. I don't have to deal with the Olympians (at this event), so I should fare decently well," Ian said. "It's pretty much just an NCAA match with a couple of high-schoolers who are good. It should be interesting. I won't win, but I won't do terribly bad. It will be fun."

Ian has already taken part in big events, competing against Army marksmen in a tournament in West Virginia.

Lampeter-Strasburg does not have a rifle team, but Ian will have teammates in the fall. He earned a scholarship to attend Division I University of North Georgia, where he plans to major in marketing.

Ian was a late bloomer. He did not begin competitive shooting until February of his eighth-grade year. His dad, Nathan Lyons, saw an advertisement on Facebook and told his son, "This will be fun; you should try it." "I said, 'OK,'" Ian said. "One thing led to another, and now I am doing it."

It was quite an adjustment. "I had been hunting, but nothing as precise as this," Ian said. "The targets I am trying to hit now are smaller than the tip of a pen, and matches are determined by a quarter of a millimeter."

Ian hones his craft at the Palmyra Sportsmen's Association, where Erin Gestl is his primary coach. "I have a really good coaching staff," Ian said. "They are some of the best in the country. They can take you from average shooter to the best in the country. Working with Gestl for the past few years, I've been able to win things. The program is very good for people."

Ian is setting his sights on the ultimate goal, earning a spot on the United States Olympic Team. "I need to win NCAA and become exceptional in every realm for next four years," he said. "Get on the Olympic Developmental team, and then the next Olympics, get on the team and win gold for America. There's not a lot of steps. It's hard to do them. If it's what you really want, you'll get it."