Jenna Compton was a standout on the Mt. Lebanon High School rifle team, winning a WPIAL gold medal and leading the Blue Devils to the state title as a senior during the 2007-08 season.

Still, she had no guarantees of success when she walked on to the University of Akron rifle team in August. For starters, she had to learn to use new equipment -- an air rifle -- after shooting with a .22 caliber small-bore rifle throughout her high school career.

"There was a lot of adjusting," said Compton, a freshman for the Zips.

She proved to be a quick study.

Compton won the NCAA individual air rifle championship on March 14 at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. She became the first member of the rifle squad and only the second athlete in the school's history to win a national individual title.

"I still can't believe it," Compton said. "I knew I could get into the finals and do well. I was expecting to do my best. I wasn't expecting to win."

Just making it to the NCAA championships was a tremendous accomplishment for Compton. Air rifle is a coed sport, and only 48 people qualify for nationals.

"It's extremely hard, and the competition is rather intense," said Newt Engle, who has had two NCAA qualifiers in 31 seasons as Akron's coach. "We've had very good teams with very good individuals who didn't make the cut for the NCAAs."

Compton earned her spot by shooting a career-best mark of 587 at a NCAA qualifier Feb. 14 at Ohio State University in Columbus.

That gave her the nation's 14th best score.

Once at the NCAA championships, Compton became the event's Cinderella story.

She again topped her career mark and established a school record by shooting 590, leaving her in second place and one point behind West Virginia's Bryant Wallizer.

The top eight finishers moved on to the Olympic finals, where each shooter fired 10 more shots and added the results to their existing scores to decide the national champion.

Compton inched closer to Wallizer with each shot, and got the support of the crowd along the way.

"The thing about rifle, it's like watching grass grow," Engle said. "It's not exciting. But after every shot, the entire arena would just explode with applause for Jenna. They were pulling for the underdog.

"It was extremely rewarding and emotional for me to see the support for someone they really didn't know. It was just an unbelievable experience."

Compton noticed the support.

"The crowd was keeping me going," she said. "My team wasn't there. There were maybe two or three people from Akron who were there. The crowd kept my spirits up."

Compton passed Wallizer with her final two shots and won 691.6-691.

"After my last shot, I put my rifle down, looked at the scoreboard and immediately started crying," she said. "I couldn't believe it. It was insane."

Following her victory, Compton was named to the U.S. Olympic National Development Team and will have a chance to compete for a spot in the 2012 Olympics.