Mr. Gary Anderson, DCM Emeritus, congratulates James McCaig, 2010 President’s Pistol Match Junior Champion.

James McCaig, 17, of Columbia, Tennessee, won the President’s Pistol Junior Trophy firing a .22 caliber target pistol with an aggregate score of 363-5X. Rebekah Jennings, 19, of Boerne, Texas, placed second with a 356-3X and Blake Fleming, 18, of Gloucester Point, Virginia, finished third with an aggregate of 352-6X.

The President’s 100 includes the top 100 competitors in the President’s Pistol Match – each receiving a President’s 100 Certificate and Medallion. The cut-off score for this year’s match fired by John Voorhees, 68, of Romeo, Michigan, was 350-7X.

SFC James Henderson, 43, of Columbus, Georgia, the defending President’s and NTI champion, placed first in this year’s NTI with an aggregate score of 292-10X. USAMU teammates SSG Lyman Grover, 41, of Columbus, Georgia, and SSG Park took second and third place honors in the NTI with scores of 292-9X and 290-7X, respectively. SFC Henderson was awarded a Colt M1911 Gold Cup pistol donated by Colt Firearms.
 

Over 575 pistol competitors competed in the 2010 National Trophy Pistol Matches which is a slight increase from 2009.

A variable breeze that increased throughout the day took the edge off the 90-degree heat but appeared to knock down scores of competitors across the board.

“Yep, the wind was definitely a factor and it increased as we went into the second relay (of the team match – the final event of the day),” SSG Park said afterward.

SSG Park and the remainder of the USAMU pistol team perennially chase SFC Henderson, who won the President’s and NTI matches last year. It was SSG Park’s second big victory having captured his first overall individual championship at the 51st Interservice Pistol championship matches in June at Ft. Benning, Georgia. He and SFC Henderson also finished first and second in the second annual warm-up pistol match on Tuesday, 13 July.

SSG Park will enjoy a short-lived spotlight as the team moves on. He is one of the USAMU’s top marksmanship instructors and is slated to deploy this fall to Afghanistan as part of a cross-functional team of USAMU Soldiers training Afghan National Army Soldiers on the fundamentals of marksmanship.

The General Custer Trophy was purchased by the NBPRP in 1926. SFC Henderson won the 2010 NTI Pistol Match with a 292-10X. Henderson currently holds the National Match record of 297-13X set in 2009.

SFC Henderson, who will also deploy to Afghanistan, said he was happy with his NTI victory and performance overall during the Matches. He credited the team for keeping him sharp.

“I can’t win them all - I’m just glad one of our guys stepped up. I’m very happy with our team’s success,” SFC Henderson said following the awards presentation Sunday evening.

The NTI 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 (EIC) 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 civilian shooters in the NTI match were David Lange, 41, of Glen Rock, New Jersey, Steve Reiter, 68, of Tucson, Arizona, and Brian Zins, 41, of Poland, Ohio. Lange fired an aggregate score of 289-9X while Reiter scored a 288-8X and Zins finished with a 285-11X. Reiter was also the top senior in the match and was followed by James Lenardson (278-10X) and Robert McIlhaney, 61, of Allentown, Pennsylvania (277-6X).

The high NTI National Women’s Trophy was SSG Cara Krauss, ARNG who fired a 279-5X, followed by Judy Tant (274-7X) and Kimberly Hobart, 45, of New Philadelphia, Ohio (255-3X).

Mr. Ron Krelstein presented Judy Tant with the Rose Krelstein Trophy Plaque. Judy also received a Glock pistol of her choice donated by Glock GmbH.

Tant won the Rose Krelstein Trophy, signifying the high woman in aggregate of scores from the President’s and NTI matches. Tant’s aggregate of 639-12X was followed by SSG Krauss at 628-10X and Hobart at 600-5X.

Mr. Anderson and Mr. Krelstein presented the new G.P. “Perry” DeFino Trophy plaque to Rebekah Jennings. Jennings fired a 285-15X in the National Trophy Individual Junior Pistol Match and set a new National Record.

USAMU Blue team members gather around the Gold Cup Trophy at the conclusion of the Awards Ceremony. The USAMU Pistol Team has dominated the National Trophy Team Pistol Match for the past four years.

In the four-person National Trophy Team Match, USAMU Blue won the Gold Cup Trophy with an aggregate score of 1141-32X. Members of the winning team were SSG Park, SFC Henderson, SSG Grover and SSG John Ennis IV, 34 of Fortson, Georgia.

The ORPA Pistol Team placed second overall in the NTT and captured the Oglethorpe Trophy.

The Ohio Rifle & Pistol Association team of Brian Zins, James Lenardson, Kevin Kelly, 47, of Chardon, Ohio and Joseph Totts, 18, of Mogadore, Ohio combined for an aggregate score of 1105-27X to earn second place honors. ORPA was captained by Richard Pozo, 47, of Concord Township, Ohio and coached by Jerry C. Neal, 80, of Willoughby, Ohio.

The US Marine Corps Reserve team finished third by only four points with an aggregate score of 1101-20X. The USMCR team of SSG Kevin Moore, 30, of Gilbert, Arizona, SSG Matthew Walsh, 34, of Quantico, Virginia, SSG Jason Hedrick and GySGT Kevin Worrell, 37, of Lakewood, New Mexico, was coached by 1SGT Clark Rhiel Sr., 44, of Secaucus, New Jersey, and captained by Gunner Stephen Ryther, 39, of Wallkill, New York.

Zachary Hedrick and Jennings of the Texas Junior Gold Team won the National Trophy Junior Team Match and will have their names inscribed on the Riding the High Places Junior Pistol Team Trophy.

The top two-person junior team in the NTT Match was Texas Junior Gold, firing an aggregate score of 551-13X. Firing members were Zachary Hedrick, 17, of Boerne, Texas, and Rebekah Jennings. Texas Junior Gold is captained by David Deppe, 16, of Mico, Texas, and coached by Kathleen Deppe, 44, of Mico, Texas. Second place went to Texas Junior Silver with a score of 514-6X, fired by Keaton Harlow, 18, of Pflugerville, Texas, and Rafe Corley, 18, of San Antonio, Texas, and were mentored by David and Kathleen Deppe.

Third place in the Junior NTT was captured by VSSA Juniors, Blake Fleming and Brad Fellows, 16, of Gloucester Point, Virginia, with an aggregate score of 513-5X. VSSA Juniors was captained and coached by Fleming and Fellows, respectively.

The overall aggregate (President’s, NTI and NTT) was captured by SSG Park with an aggregate of 967-39X. SFC Henderson followed with a 961-34X and SSG Grover placed third overall with a 957-26X. Glock GmbH donated a Glock pistol to the High Law Enforcement in the Overall Aggregate which was awarded to Special Agent Keith Hanzel, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, firing a 928-14X.

For complete National Trophy Pistol Match results log onto http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=5688. Pictures can be viewed at http://cmp1.zenfolio.com/.

SGT Lawrence Cleveland, USA, of Columbus, GA, is congratulated by LTC Daniel Hodne, Commander, U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit. SGT Cleveland was awarded the Military Police Corps Pistol Trophy. He also receives a Colt M1911 NM (National Match) pistol provided by the CMP.

The four highest scoring civilian competitors in the National Trophy Pistol Team Match are named as team members to an honorary National Civilian Pistol Team. The coach and captain of the highest civilian team are named as the coach and captain. All six members receive Elihu Root Medals. The 2010 National Civilian Pistol Team is: Jerry Neal, Willoughby, Ohio (coach); Richard Pozo, Concord Township, Ohio (captain); team members: Brian Zins, Poland, Ohio, 286-9X; David Lange, Glen Rock, New Jersey, 283-12X; John Farley, Americus, Georgia, 282-9X; and Keith Hanzel, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 282-4X.

During the Awards Ceremony, Mr. Gary Anderson, DCM Emeritus, was honored for his years of service as Director of Civilian Marksmanship. COL Dean Brown, Commander, Fort Ohio Installations Command, and BG Robert Boggs, Chief of Staff, Ohio Air National Guard, presented Anderson the Ohio Distinguished Service Medal, a Proclamation from Ohio Governor Ted Strickland and a framed picture from the Ohio National Guard.