While Emmaus High School has many impressive sports programs and athletes that grace it’s fields and courts, there’s another rising star of a special discipline at the high school that has his sights set on an Olympic berth.

Griffin Lake, 17-year-old Emmaus High School senior, made a recent trip to Cairo, Egypt, to represent the United States in the Prone and 3-position Jr. Men’s Division rifle event.

As a result, sharpshooter Lake placed third in the world and first on the USA Team in the Jr. Men’s 3-position event. Griffin represented Emmaus as the two-time individual PIAA State Rifle Champion and is coached by Mike Schuler.

When asked in a phone interview how he got started in the scholastic shooting sports, Lake said his dad got him involved and he’s been shooting for six years and started doing so at Ontelaunee Fish and Game Association, which is his personal practice range. He’s been on the Emmaus rifle team for three years where practice is held at Unami Fish and Game Associations range in Emmaus.

The Cairo international shooting event, as well as the Olympics, is hosted by the International Shooting Sports Foundation (ISSF) that was founded in 1907 and headquartered in Munich, Germany. ISSF is the governing body of the Olympic shooting events in rifle, pistol and shotgun (clay targets) disciplines, and of several non-Olympic shooting events. The organization regulates the Olympic qualifications and organizations of competitions such as the ISSF World Cup Series, the ISSF World Cup Finals and ISSF Separate World events.

As for the men’s rifle competition, there are five different events that include 10m (distance to targets) Air Rifle; 50m Rifle 3 Positions; and 50m Rifle Prone. The rifles used for 10m Air Rifle events are loaded with .177 caliber pellets while the 50m rifle event uses .22 caliber ammunition.

Lake’s favorite rifle is a Walther .22 rifle with open sights and he uses made-for-competition subsonic ammunition. The Walther rifle initially cost $5,000 but is now fetching $7,000 said Lake. They are ultraprecision and pricey rifles, and not your typical .22 used for plinking and squirrel hunting. At Unami and for the school team, Anshultz rifles are used.

In addition to the rifle, Lake wears a special tight fitting Capapie jacket and pants that confines and steadies the body for competitive shooting.

For Olympic qualification, that will be held in Paris, France in 2024, there is no age limit to be eligible to participate in the Olympic Games, but athletes need to be listed in the Qualification Ranking for the Games with at least one ranking point achieved for each individual shooting event they are entered in. They must have participated in at least two ISSF Championships during the Qualifying period for each of the individual events in which they are to be entered for at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games according to ISSF rules.

Upon his high school graduation in 2023, Lake has been accepted at West Virginia University where he’ll be on their rifle team that is the No. 2-ranked rifle team as it recently defeated the former No. 2-ranked U.S. Air Force Academy. Seems Lake chose the perfect college to continue his competitive shooting career.

Judging from the record Lake has compiled so far, it appears he may be on his way to Paris in 2024.