When Jay Beaman saw his daughter Janessa hold a BB gun for the first time, he hoped she could become a trap shooter like him.

Now, they both think bigger. The 24-year-old Mitchell High School graduate is one of the best women in the world as she enters the USA Shooting National Championships for Shotgun this week and next at Fort Carson’s International Shooting Park.

Beaman, a competitive trap shooter since 1981, tried to get his two older daughters involved but neither showed much ability, he said. Janessa, however, did things he never expected a true novice to do when they first handle a weapon.

“She knew how to hold it the right way without being told,” he said of that moment about 12 years ago.

He later took her to the trap shooting range. She surprised him with her natural ability again.

“Most people, on average, hit four (out of 25 targets) their first time,” he said. “She got 19. That was when I knew she might be something special.”

A couple years later, Janessa entered high school and stepped away from the sport until age 17.

“Now, I love it,” she said.

That does not include practice.

She gets bored in noncompetitive environments but thrives under pressure.

Beaman competes in both the American and international trap competitions which have different rules. Conventional thinking is doing both slows a trap shooter’s development. More practice is essential.

But Janessa points to her success competing in both during 2014. She became the first American woman to medal at the World Cup Finals with a silver. She also won silver in the Championship of the Americas and at World Cup Munich.

She was the 2011 junior national champion and placed third in the 2012 national championships to make the U.S. national team.

“I just show them my resume,” she said with a laugh.

Jay said competing in both styles sharpens her mental performance.

“Whenever Janessa is in a match, she has that killer instinct,” national team shotgun assistant coach Dwayne Weger has said. “She is not satisfied with being anything but the best.”

“Janessa’s approach and outlook on shooting, as well as life, is definitely what sets her apart from the crowd,” assistant Jay Waldron said.

She is focused on doing well on her home range. Results help determine if a shooter makes the world championships team.

Regardless of this week’s results, becoming a trap shooter has made her closer to her father.

“Without him I wouldn’t be where I am now,” she said. “I am lucky because he knows the sport and he knows me very well. I don’t think I could have a better coach when it comes to motivating me.”