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| The Palmyra (PA) Sportsmen’s Club Junior Air Rifle Team won a trip to the British National Championship in Bisley, England when they won the precision team title in the National Guard Bureau Junior Air Rifle National Championship. |
It may not have equaled the drama of the 2003 National Guard Bureau Junior Air Rifle Championship when the Palmyra Junior Rifle Team from Palmyra, Pennsylvania was one of three teams that were tied with 1524 scores and a trip to Bisley, England on the line, but the 2004 NGB Championship was certainly more rewarding to the Pennsylvania team. One year ago, when the 2003 NGB Championship was in Wilmington, North Carolina, the Palmyra team lost a chance to compete in Bisley, England as the precision team winners when it lost a 2-1 jury vote on a dramatic, challenged shot. This year, with another trip to Bisley on the line, the Palmyra juniors dominated team competition to easily win the precision standing position team title and the trip to England. With team members Leslie Angeli, Cody Rutter, Kirsten Weiss and Brad Stepp all firing excellent 40-shot standing scores, the Palmyra Sportsmens Club juniors compiled a 20-point 1525 to 1505 victory over the second place Spokane (Washington) Junior Rifle Club. The Palmyra team was coached by Erin Gestl. Gestl is also the CMP State Junior Director for Pennsylvania.
The National Guard Bureau Junior Air Rifle National Championship is one of the major annual three-position air rifle national championships now available to school-age junior shooters throughout the nation. To compete in the championship, teams must qualify through a postal competition that takes place in the months of January through March; 156 teams and nearly 1,300 individual juniors fired in that phase of the 2004 competition. The NGB competition offers competition in two classes, three-position sporter air rifle and standing position precision air rifle. The top eight four-person teams in the postal competition in the two events were invited to the national competition.
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| Blake Phillips of Bogalusa, Louisiana won the sporter class individual championship in the NGB Junior Championship. Phillips’ brother Brian won the same title two years earlier. |
The 2004 National Championship took place at Camp Joseph T. Robinson, North Little Rock, Arkansas on 9-12 June. Camp Robinson is the home of the National Guard Marksmanship Training Center that conducts the competition for the National Guard Bureau. NGMTC staff member Captain David Woodard was the Match Director. The Civilian Marksmanship Program supports the National Guard competition by administering the postal and supporting the NGMTC in conducting the national competition.
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| Sixteen year-old Jace Bures from Odell, Nebraska narrowly missed winning the individual sporter championship when he finished the regular competition tied with Phillips. Here he receives his second place plaque from CMP Director Gary Anderson, who was the guest speaker at the Saturday evening awards banquet. |
The individual sporter and precision championships were fired on the first two days of competition, preceding the team match day. Sporter competitors fired a 3x20 score each day and the match concluded with a final on the second day for the top eight shooters. Jace Bures, 16, of Odell, Nebraska, who competed as a member of the Homestead club, led the sporter individual competition until the final when Blake Phillips of Bogalusa, Louisiana caught up with him to set the stage for a dramatic conclusion. The tie between Bures and Phillips was broken by a sudden death shoot-off where Phillips, who is also 16, shot a 10 and Bures an eight. Phillips’ brother Brian won the same title two years ago.
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| Sixteen year-old Leslie Angeli from Palmyra, Pennsylvania won the individual precision standing title at the NGB National Championship. |
Leslie Angeli, 16, of Palmyra, Pennsylvania fired a 385 on the first day of individual competition where she was second behind the 387 fired by Elisha LaFond of Spokane, Washington. Angeli fired another 385 on the second day to take a four-point lead over second place Eric McNett of Spokane into the final. Both Angeli and McNett fired 93s in the final to give Angeli the individual precision title. Angeli and McNett had the high individual scores in the third day’s team competition where both fired 384s.
In the sporter three-position team championship, the Homestead 4-H Shooting Sports Club from Beatrice, Nebraska moved up from a fourth place finish in the 2003 NGB Championships to an impressive win in the 2004 Championship at Camp Robinson. Both Micaela Jochum and Clint Sejkora fired 554 x 600 scores in leading the Homestead team to victory. The other two team members who contributed to their 2119 team total were Sarah Broeker and Sheena Mahloch. The team was coached by Mike and Nancy Jochum. The Jochums are CMP State Junior Directors for Nebraska.
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The
Homestead
4-H Shooting Sports Club won the sporter team championship in the 2004
NGB National Championship. Team members were, left to right,
Sarah Broker, 15; Sheena Mahloch, 14; Clint Sejkora, 16 and Micaela Jochum,
14.
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