Peninah D'Souza

Photo by: 2023

Photo by: U.S. Air Force photo / Trevor Co

Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Ellicott City, MD
High School:
Mount Hebron

2022-23 (Junior): Team MVP … first-team All-America in air rifle and honorable mention in aggregate … at the NCAA Championships, D’Souza qualified for the finals in air rifle with a 596 … her sixth-place finish was the highest by a Falcon during the 2022-23 season … placed sixth in air rifle at the Patriot Rifle Conference Championships, earning all-conference honors … early in the season, shot a season-high 599 in air rifle, tying as the ninth best mark in the nation in 2022-23 … air rifle average of 595.818 was the seventh best in the nation … shot career-best 587 in smallbore twice during the season … shot a career-best 1186 aggregate against TCU … competed in the 2023 International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) Junior World Championships in Changwon, Korea.

2021-22 (Sophomore): First-team All-American in air rifle … became the first Falcon, and the just the 14^th in NCAA history to shoot a perfect 600 in air rifle at Nebraska, Nov. 20 … shot 598 or better in air rifle three times … season and career best 587 in small bore at the NCAA Qualifier … season best 1180 aggregate at West Virginia, Nov. 14 … shot 1171 aggregate, 583 smallbore and 588 air rifle at the NCAA Championships.

2020-2021 (Freshman): Had the team’s third-highest score of 1165 against Army following the President’s Cup ... shot a 574 in smallbore and finished with a 591 in air rifle ... ranked seventh vs Alaska with an 1163 ... competed in her first national meet ... scored a 581 in air rifle and 574 in smallbore ... final season averages were 1161.167 ... 573.5 in smallbore and 587.667 in air rifle.

Before the Academy: Attended Mount Hebron High School in Ellicott City, MD … competed rifle and in 2018 shot a 390 in women’s air rifle at the Maryland Antietam JRC J2 … was the high scorer for woman and juniors in the 60 Shot Air Rifle event with a score of 612 … also earned the win in the 30 Shot Standing Event.

Personal: Was born in Chandigarh, India … parents are Jasleen Shant and David D’Souza, and has one sibling … major is economics … member of cadet squadron 5 … long-term goal is to work in the finance career field … is the Group 1 standardization/evaluation officer in the cadet wing … this past summer, was selected for the Cadet Summer Research Program working in space acquisitions under Space Systems Command in Colorado Springs.