Introducing Logan Hassel! He is not your ordinary Doherty student. This junior is a shooter! But first, the basics… In his free time, Logan loves to “play guitar, and spend time with my friends and family.” During school, Logan is also involved in the JROTC program and he is in a leadership role.

Logan does not only play the part of a high school student, but he is also a tremendous shooter! He started learning “around the age of 8,” but he did not know how talented he would become until opportunities started unfolding.

To teach oneself or to be taught…Logan was taught his awesome shooting skills. As he explained, “there are very many things that can make you a better shooter that I had no idea about. I have amazing coaches that have taught me all I needed to know, all the way from the basics and then more advanced techniques for your body and your mind to make you a better shooter.”

Logan is skilled in shooting with a variety of guns. As described, “the guns I shoot with are very special and unique to this sport. They are precise and made to shoot groupings of periods on sentences. The guns have all kinds of special adjustments and  attachments, [they] have been built so that any person can pick one up and then make the adjustments on that gun to make it fit with their body perfectly, making it so when you take your shot it feels natural.” Comfort is key to a sport like this. You must have focus, precision, and be relaxed in order to perform well.

Now, of course, there are pros and cons to this risky activity. On the positive end, Logan describes his favorite part of shooting is the competitions.  “During a competition, it can come down to one difference between a loss and a win. It makes me perform under pressure and really makes me focus on the skills I’ve acquired, that’s what I depend on to ensure that I do good,” Logan said. 

But to every pro there is a con…in this case, Logan’s roughest part of shooting is “how hard it is on me mentally. That is a big part of this sport; everything is in your mind. You must be clear-minded and picture everything you’re doing before you do it. However, you must have a happy place to go to because when your blood pressure rises and you start to think about other things, you must be able to come back and focus on your next.” Not only does going to his mental place of comfort work with shooting for Logan, but in life in general. It relaxes and reassures the body, so it can be more concentrated on the task at hand.

As he mentioned, Logan loves to compete. So much so that he was recently “in the state qualifiers for the Junior Olympics” he said. “This was probably the most important one yet,” he said. Although he kept his calm on the outside, the Junior Olympics State Qualifier was no ordinary competition. “I pictured it as just another competition, so that way I wouldn’t get in my head and start to get nervous and that worked very well. At the end of that competition, I ended up shooting second in the whole state and I also qualified for the Junior Olympics,” Logan said.

Not only is he skilled on the shooting range, but in the classroom! Doherty Social Studies teacher and Track coach, Robert Duensing gave a brief overview of Logan’s excellence in the educational field. “Logan is a disciplined student who pays attention to the details, which may be a character trait that transfers well to his extra-curricular interests. Stressful situations don’t seem to ruffle his feathers, he takes things in stride with a relaxed yet professional approach to accomplishing tasks,” Coach Duensing said. 

As mentioned before, Logan is part of Doherty’s Naval Junior ROTC program. NROTC Senior Naval Science Instructor Captain Greg Thomas briefed on his work ethic in the military preparation field. Captain Thomas explained, “I have had the distinct pleasure of having Logan Hassell in Navy JROTC for three years now. He started shooting air rifles with [now retired] Senior Chief Zoppa as a freshman. Now look at him!!! His leadership ability is outstanding and I expect him to further his education at the Naval Academy or at a college with a Navy ROTC unity attached. He is that good!!!”

 But this is not the end for Logan. “I have one more competition to shoot in this year and that is the Junior Olympics. I don’t know what it is going to be like, but I am very excited to compete in it. Others that have gone have told me that it is a very fun experience. However, the competition there is also very high. I’m looking forward to going and I hope I do great.”