Walla Walla High School JROTC Rifle Team hosted the Junior AirNats Regional Qualifier Rifle Match at Walla Walla High School on Saturday. 48 shooters from across eastern Washington converged on WAHI’s rifle range to compete for honors and an invite to the national championship match, held in Camp Perry, Ohio this January.
Precision-Class rifle shooters fired a 60 shot match from the unsupported standing position. Shots were scored on a decimal system, with a perfect dead-center shot scoring a 10.9 and lower scores radiating out from the target’s center.
The Blue Devil Precision Team won the match over Spokane Rifle Club’s Gold Team by 22 points 2374 to 2352. The top precision class shooter at the match was WAHI’s Cadet Lieutenant Claire Calvert at a 602.2 narrowly defeating Spokane Rifle Club’s Breeden Ensley by 2/10th’s of a point. The Blue Devil scoring team for this match included Calvert, Cadet Captain Sarah Nelson at 593.2, Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Hannah Goin at 590.8 and Cadet Lieutenant Noah Kaheaku at 588.
“We are very pleased with these scores right now.” Commented Rifle Team Captain Evan Graham after Saturday’s match “I think this gives our team a very good chance of qualifying for the national championships.”
In the Sporter-Class, the match consisted of 20 shots fired prone, 20 shots standing and 20 shots from the kneeling position for a possible score of 600. The top score went to WAHI’s Cadet Captain Saphira Rynaski with a personal record of 541. WAHI swept the top three spots with Cadet Corporal Jaycee Cox in second place behind a 529 and Cadet First Sergeant Melissa Villegas in third with a 528. The Blue Devils won the match with a score of 2117 out of 2400 ahead of University High School’s JROTC Rifle Team, setting a new school record in the process. Scoring members of the sporter team were Rynaski, Cox, Villegas and Cadet Major Claire Wooster who finished the day on a personal record of 519.
“This sporter team has absolutely been on fire the last two weeks” said rifle coach Mark Mebes. “They broke the school record last weekend in Lebanon with a 2100, and then broke it again today. It will be interesting to see how far they can go this year.”
Whether or not any teams from this match will receive an invite to the national match in Ohio will remain to be seen. Locations throughout the US are holding similar regional qualifiers until the end of December.
The Blue Devil’s next contest will take place in Spokane on December 14th at the JROTC Cascade Mountain League drill and rifle competition with the rifle match taking place at Spokane Community College.
