Springfield Armory has shared that its brand ambassador and professional shooter, Julie Golob, delivered record-setting performances at the 2026 Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) Bianchi Cup National Championships in Hallsville, Missouri. Using the Echelon 4.0FC 9mm over the Memorial Day weekend competition, she earned top women's honors in multiple divisions and historic placements.
A veteran of the elite U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, Golob has—over the course of her storied career—earned titles including top honors in Bianchi Cup, Steel Challenge, USPSA, IDPA and IPSC competitions, as well as being named U.S. Army Female Athlete of the Year. Overall, she has earned more than 170 championship titles and top scores in international, national and regional marksmanship competitions across seven different shooting disciplines.
At this most recent event in Missouri, Golob competed in Production Optics and in the Standing Only Production Optics Event, posting some of the strongest performances by a female competitor in the history of the championship.
In a division featuring striker-fired and double-action handguns with slide-mounted optics, Golob made history as the first woman to finish in the Top 10 in Production Optics at the championship. She also placed first among the women and posted the highest ladies' score in the division. Contributing to her performance was a record-setting run on the Moving Target Event, where she placed High Overall Woman in the event and 2nd Overall in Production Optics.
Golob's performance also earned her a spot in the Speed Event, a man vs. man competition of the best shooters in each of the four center-fire divisions. Dominating and undefeated in every qualifying run, she advanced to the Production Optics Event Finals, ultimately earning second place position in the division's Shoot-Off. Finally, Golob successfully defended her first-place women's finish in the Standing Only Production Optics Event, one of the competition's most challenging tests.
Her pistol of choice for the event, the Echelon 4.0FC—designed around a robust stainless steel chassis and revolutionary Variable Interface System for mounting optics—merges a compact 4" slide with a full-size grip module for fast target transitions along with impressive capacity and excellent handling characteristics.
"Since joining Springfield Armory, I'm continually impressed by the Echelon," said Golob. "In addition to being a reliable carry, defensive, and duty pistol, it's capable of meeting the demands of the most accuracy-intensive competitions in action shooting sports. For me, competing at this year's CMP Bianchi Cup in a division with a firearm you can purchase at your local dealer, and performing well with it, is so rewarding."
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