Missoula Marksman Sets Sights on World Cup Munich

Most may know Jason C. Herndon as the cafe manager for Double Front Chicken in Missoula, but having an award winning restaurant that serves our town's best golden fried chicken under his supervision is not the only award that he is eyeing. In fact, Herndon has his targets set on another kind of gold. The gold you can win in the 2016 Olympics as a team member for the US Olympic Team and the Olympic Freestyle Air Pistol event. 

Jason has been around firearms all his life. His father was a well recognized sharp shooter, and even when he was going through high school he was unloading shells at a local target range, enough to get the attention of professionals in that sporting field.

Then, according to Herdon, "life happened" and his aspirations of becoming the best in his field took a backseat to building a loving family and marrying the love of his life. Even still, Herdon still managed qualify in national matches held at Fort Benning Georgia and Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

And before you know it, the World Cup came calling. Next stop? Possibly Munich, Germany if the cards play themselves out right and the sudden crunch for time and finances no longer become a concern.

"I have funded myself up until this point, but now that I only have 21 days to raise the money...the invitation came so (suddenly) I have to reach out to raise the money," said Herdon in a recent interview on 107.5 FM.

According to his GoFundMe page

Jason’s immediate goal is to shoot a Minimal Qualifying Score at World Cup Munich (May 26-June 1, 2015) that will guarantee him an invitation to the US Olympic Team Trials in Fort Benning, Georgia in June 2016. In June 2015, Jason will compete to gaining a position on the USA Shooting Team which results in funding for future matches and competitions. Until this point, all travel, equipment, and coaching support Jason has received is either donated or is self-funded. Having attended over 15 matches at Fort Benning, Arizona and at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs since 2009, Jason’s ability to self-fund his trips to Munich and Fort Benning for the upcoming matches is stretched to the limit.

So far, Jason and his family have raised $372 of the $4700 needed to make the trip and cover the costs for this chance to have a Missoulian bring home the gold. You can make a donation on the Journey to Olympics - Jason Herdon page.