Mark Laramie gets doused with a water cooler after winning the 2009 President's Rifle Match.

CAMP PERRY, OHIO – If you follow sports, you've probably heard the reference to a team or an individual who "keeps hanging around." It is a form of respect often given to a dangerous opponent who demonstrates the ability to seize the lead at any moment.

That is just what Mark Laramie did to win the prestigious President's Rifle Trophy Match on 3 August. The 41-year-old Oneida County civil engineer from Boonville, New York jumped to the top of the 1,262-shooter pack and earned the top position in the 10-shot prone final used to determine the match winner. And once the 600-yard final began, Laramie did not disappoint the crowd.

A large crowd gathered on Rodriguez Range at Camp Perry, Ohio to watch the President's Rifle Match final. The final is used to determine the winner of the event. Many spectators watched the event unfold on-line with the CMP's on-line results system.

The final format, adopted in the 2007 for the President's Match, pits the top 20 competitors from the 30-shot qualification round in a shoulder-to-shoulder contest at the end of the match. The qualifiers fire an additional 10-shots in prone at 600-yards, and this final score is added to their qualification score to determine the winner.

Shooters faced blustery wind conditions all day, and a change from sunshine to overcast skies in the middle of the final. Despite the conditions, Laramie outlasted second-place finisher Tyler Rico, 15, a junior phenom from Tucson, Arizona and perennial challenger U.S. Army SFC Grant Singley, who finished third in the competition.

Laramie, a husband and father of three children, has been riding the President's Rifle Match roller coaster since his first appearance in the event in 2005. And like many other scrappy competitors Laramie has just kept hanging around, that is until Monday’s victory.

Laramie's road to becoming a champion began with a very good 35th place finish in 2005, just six-points shy of the winner, Norman Anderson, who was an active duty U.S. Army Staff Sergeant at the time. In 2006, Laramie dropped a third of the way down in the pack, 23-points behind the leader; but the following year he fought back, finishing in the top 20 percent of all shooters. In 2008, Laramie once again finished in 35th place, just seven points behind Anderson who was then shooting as an Army reservist.

Competitors on the firing line at the conclusion of the President's Rifle Match final at the 2009 National Matches. The 10-shot prone final fired from the 600-yard-line was added in to the President's Rifle Match in 2007.

As the qualification round of the President’s Match wrapped-up, it looked as though 2009 might be the year that Laramie closed the deal. Entering the final Laramie had resounding 296-10X qualifying score, and went on to shoot a gutsy 94-3X to maintain a two-point margin over Rico and SFC Singley who were both nipping at his heels. Both Rico and SFC Singley shot higher scores in the final than Laramie, but could not overcome his commanding lead.

"I am very happy," Laramie said following the presentation of the President's Rifle trophy. "I was just hoping to make it to the shootout and was very surprised to hear that I placed that high," he said.

It was a clear and sunny day, with low humidity for Camp Perry, but a driving southwest wind with gusts of 15 to 20 miles per hour made it a challenging match for all shooters, particularly as the day wore on.

"I think my offhand was okay but firing at 600 was a challenge," Laramie added. "I was just very happy to see my score."

Tyler Rico nearly closed the gap during the President's Final.  He started the final in 12th and finished 2nd overall in the 2009 President's Rifle Match. He is shown here being congratulated by his teammates.

Rico's 97-6X performance in the final improved his position 10-places, and brought him within two-points of Laramie. Rico is the youngest shooter in the history of the President's Trophy match to place second. He is also the youngest-ever recipient of the Distinguished Rifle Badge, which he received at the 2007 National Matches.

The top finisher in the President's Trophy Match receive a letter of congratulations from the President of the United States. The tradition began with Theodore Roosevelt in 1904, a renowned advocate of rifle training, who wrote a congratulatory letter to that year's trophy winner. The cut-off for this year’s President 100 was a 283-4X. The “President’s 100” will also receive President’s 100 medallions and certificates.

For a complete list of President’s 100 place finishers and scores, go to http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_eventAward.cgi?matchID=4689&eventID=1&awardID=1.  Full National Trophy Rifle results are posted at http://clubs.odcmp.com/ntrifle.  Event pictures may be viewed at http://www.odcmp.com/photos.htm.