CAMP PERRY, OHIO – This year marked the 117th anniversary of the National Trophy Pistol Matches, now sponsored by the Civilian Marksmanship Program. The matches, which trace back to roots in competitions promoted by the U.S. Department of War and U.S. Congress in the late 1800s and early 1900s, have been hosted at Camp Perry since 1907. Over 900 shooters participated in the 2008 National Trophy Pistol Matches phase which includes the Pistol Small Arms Firing School.

The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit once again dominated the President’s Pistol Match, with Army shooters taking two out of the top three positions and six out of the top 10 spots in the individual match. The matches are fired with M1911 .45 cal. or M9 9mm pistols or commercial equivalents to those pistols.

SSG James Henderson, USA, took top honors, firing a 386-12X in the 40-shot, 400-point match. USAMU teammate SSG Robert Park II finished second in a 384-16X tiebreaker over 2007 defending champion, Steve Reiter of Tucson, Arizona, the 2007 winner, who captured third place with a 384-12X.

Henderson and the 99 shooters who followed him are also recognized as the “President’s Hundred” and receive President’s Pistol Match medallions and certificates. The cut-off score (100th place) in this year’s match was a 348-6X.

President’s Pistol is a service pistol match featuring 20 slow-fire shots from 50 yards in 10 minutes, 10 timed-fire shots at 25 yards in 20 seconds and two strings of five shots fired in 10 seconds each. The match has been fired since 1981.

Henderson’s aggregate score was comprised of a 189-5X, 100-5X, 97-2X in slow, timed and rapid fire, respectively.

The President’s Pistol Junior Trophy match, fired with a .22 caliber pistol, was won by Rebekah Jennings, of Boerne, Texas, who fired a 371-10X, comprised of a 183-3X, 94-4X and 94-3X in slow, timed and rapid fire.

Rebekah was one of three young women scoring in the top 10 in this year’s match, with Heather Deppe firing a 369-10X to finish second for the second consecutive year. Michael Thola took third place honors with a 355-4X aggregate score.

Philip Hemphill, a civilian shooter, won the National Trophy Individual Pistol Match, defeating the USAMU’s SSG Park in a tie-breaker and SSG Henderson by one point with an aggregate score of 288-13X to Park’s 288-11X and Henderson’s 287-12X.

The NTI is a National Match course, which is a 300-point match fired with 10 shots of slow fire at 50 yards in 10 minutes, 10 shots of timed fire at 25 yards in 20 seconds and 10 shots of rapid fire at 25 yards in two strings of five shots each at 25 yards. The NTI is an Excellence-in-Competition match in which the top 10 percent of all Non-Distinguished competitors, military and civilian, earn EIC points that count towards earning the Distinguished Pistol Shot Badge. The top 32 shooters in the Non-Distinguished rankings earned EIC points with the cut-off score at 256-6X.

Hemphill was one of only three civilians scoring in the top 10 in NTI. His aggregate score breakdown was 91-4X, 100-4X and 97-5X in slow, timed and rapid fire.

The National Trophy Individual Junior Trophy went to Ryan Nichols of Rootstown, Ohio, who fired his .22 caliber for a 273-4X, ahead of Rebekah Jennings (268-4X) and Matthew Hoff (253-4X). Nichols shot an 87-3X, 95-1X and 91-0X in slow, timed and rapid fire.

In National Trophy Team competition the U.S. Army Blue team of Park, Henderson, SGT Michael Gasser and SGT Timothy Barber scored a combined 1116-23X to retain the Gold Cup 4-person team trophy which they won in 2007. Park was the team’s high shooter with a 285-6X. By rule, each team must have at least one new shooter – this year’s “newbie” was Barber, who shot a 275-7X aggregate to count toward the team total.

The U.S. Army Gray Team of SSG Adam Sokolowski, SGT Sean Watson, SSG Jason Sargent and MSG Richard Hinzman earned second place honors with a 1090-18X team aggregate.

The U.S. Marine Corps Scarlet Team of Cpl Ben Footer, Sgt Thomas Kozic, SSgt Jordan Kramp and CWO4 James Fraley took third place with a team total 1085-19X.

The two-person National Trophy Team Junior match was won by the Ohio Rifle & Pistol Association YAT #2 team of Joseph Totts (275.6) and Ryan Nichols (251-1) who shot a combined 526-7 team aggregate. Totts shot an 84-0X, 99-4X and a 92-2X and Nichols shot a 78-0X, 92-1X and 81-0X individual score.

The Texas Jr. Blue team of Heather Deppe and Rebekah Jennings placed second with a team composite score of 523-9X and the Texas Jr. Silver team scored a 498-4X.

The day concluded with the National Trophy Pistol Award Ceremony where 26 trophies were awarded to the top shooters. View complete results of the 2008 National Trophy Pistol Matches at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=3417. Pictures from the matches and awards ceremony can be viewed at http://www.odcmp.com/Photos/08/Pistol/index.htm. The 2009 National Trophy Pistol Matches will take place on 19 July with the Pistol SAFS Firing School being held on 12-13 July. Be sure to mark your calendars and join us for the 2009 National Matches.

A special thanks goes out to the 2008 National Trophy Pistol Matches sponsors:

• Eric Pierce of National Match Armory; Rendon, Texas; http://www.nationalmatcharmory.com/ prepared the presentation M1 Garand rifle for the President’s Pistol Match and National Trophy Individual Match winners.

• Glock, http://www.glock.com, donated a Standard Glock 9mm pistol (winner’s choice) to the highest-ranking Law Enforcement competitor in the President’s and NTI aggregate.

• Dr. Nicolas Abrishamian of Mountain Competition Pistols, http://www.mountaincompetitionpistols.com, donated two National Match Beretta Model 92FS accurized pistols which were awarded to the top Handicap winner’s in the President’s and NTI matches.

• Kowa Spotting Scopes, http://www.kowascope.com, donated two spotting scopes for the second ranking Handicap competitors in the President’s and NTI matches.

• Hornady, http://www.hornady.com, donated a Lock-N-Load Progressive Metallic Reloading Press for the second ranking Handicap competitor in the President’s Pistol Match.

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