With the rifle season heading towards playoff and individual national competition, junior Addy Burrow reflected on her season and her accomplishments. Despite coaching changes and injuries, she still perseveres as one of the best at NC State and will get the chance to compete in the NCAA Qualifiers later this month.

Burrow is back

Burrow participated in two matches back to back in Annapolis, Maryland on Nov. 12 and 13. Up to this point, Burrow had only participated in air rifle because of an injury to her thumb. Now fully recovered, Burrow was ready to participate in air rifle and smallbore. On the first day, she scored an 1175 aggregate, two points shy of her career high.

“It was solid. I was feeling good about it, I was really happy with how it turned out,” Burrow said. “Going into the second day of that match I was a little more nervous.”

The second day she did even better; by a single point. She scored the same on smallbore at 579, but improved her air rifle score to a 597, bringing her aggregate to 1176. That 597 is her current career high in air rifle.

“I felt settled, I felt calm once I got up there,” Burrow said. “That was definitely the best match of my career. I have had a couple [of matches] that were higher aggregate scores, but I feel like that was my best performance.”

Both Burrows in Raleigh

Freshman Sam Burrow is the newest recruit to the rifle team, adding another pair of siblings to NC State Athletics. Sam Burrow is not quite as experienced as Addy is, but still pushes his sister to be the best out there. They competed together in high school, and continue to push each other in college.

“It’s definitely a familiar situation for me. It’s also a great situation for me,” Addy Burrow said. “We definitely push each other, definitely add some friendly competition, but he’s also a great confidence booster and great morale booster.”

Addy praises Sam for helping the entire team with morale and confidence, but specifically knows what Addy wants and when.

Leading by example

Addy Burrow is one of three juniors on a team with 0 seniors. This makes her one of the more experienced athletes on the team, and her impressive scores as well as her experience makes her a natural leader.

“The best way that I know how to be an example and lead is to do those things myself: keep up with my school work, keep on top of things, and try to be involved in community things as well,” Addy Burrow said. “Showing up to practice and putting in effort, doing things that I know how to do so that people can see that.”

Addy Burrow is currently the secretary for the student-athlete advisory committee, influencing her team and fellow athletes at NC State. She also talked about helping in smaller ways, such as helping a teammate find a specific building or pointing out a resource around campus. Even though rifle is an individual sport, Addy Burrow stresses how important it is to be supportive to each other.

A mental sport

Rifle is not one of the more physically demanding sports out there, but it requires mental toughness. Addy Burrow talks about how everyone is different in their approach to every match.

“Everybody has a different way they go about things,” Addy Burrow said. “For me personally, once I’m up there, I don’t talk to anyone. I sit there and I visualize and I get into my own headspace and my own area. Some people, like my brother … he’s got to be talking the whole time. He will talk right up until he shoots that first shot.”

This is crucial for the rest of the team to know so everyone understands each other’s needs. The team knows to give Addy room to breathe whereas Sam welcomes conversation before the actual match. Knowing everyone’s needs is crucial for any sport, but especially in the absence of a coach.

Rifle as a co-ed sport

Rifle is unique because it is a co-ed sport. Unlike many sports that are restricted by gender, Burrow competes with everyone, regardless of gender, and looks to beat her opponents no matter what.

“It’s really cool to be in a sport where there is that level of equality, competition, and respect across the board,” she said. “Everybody respects everybody, regardless.”

Burrow views it more as a friendly competition when competing against her brother, and strives to beat anyone. Competing with the best in a sport she loves is something to be grateful for.

After college

Burrow wants to continue shooting after college, but her mind is on a much more global goal. Professional shooting in the United States is not a very rewarding sport financially, but it is still an option for great shooters such as Burrow.

“I would love to go to the Olympics,” Burrow said. “It’s something that I’ve wanted to do since I was 13 [years old]. I don’t think that’s impossible, I think it’s extremely difficult. I think things would have to line up for me to be able to afford to do that.”

As a career, Burrow would use her bachelor’s in art studies and her master’s degree to become a marketing team member. The dream job would be to become a marketing director for a museum, art gallery, or something similar.

Be sure to look for Addy Burrow at the NCAA Qualifiers on Feb. 19 and the GARC Championships coming up on Feb. 25 and 26. Burrow is on track to qualify for the NCAA Championships if she performs well in the qualifiers.