Team Matches are a big part of the National Trophy Rifle Matches program. Many shooters and coaches regard the National Trophy Team Match, in particular, as the most important trophy and team championship in American marksmanship. The National Trophy, which was commissioned by the U. S. Congress in 1903, goes to the overall winning team in the National Trophy Team Match, but the Soldier of Marathon Trophy for the top Civilian team, the Hilton Trophy for the top Reserve Component Team and the Minuteman Trophy for the top Junior team, along with the Infantry, Hearst and Whistler Boy Trophies represent especially prestigious team titles that service rifle teams all over the country put great effort into trying to win.

Three days of the National Trophy Rifle Matches schedule are dedicated to team competitions. After three days of individual competition in the M16EIC, President’s and National Trophy Individual Matches are over, the first team day is for two-person team matches. The Hearst Doubles Match is for open teams where shooters can choose any partner they wish. Hearst Doubles team members may coach each other, but they cannot have a separate coach. The Whistler Boy Match is for junior teams that represent clubs. Whistler teams can have coaches with them on the line.

242 teams with nearly 500 individual competitors completed the 2007 Hearst Doubles Match. Each team member fired 10 shots standing at 200 yards, 10 shots rapid fire prone at 300 yards and 10 shots slow-fire prone at 600 yards. Team members must pair fire the slow-fire stages.

Hearst Match results featured a close contest between two Marine Corps Reservists and two Army Marksmanship Unit shooters. The Army’s SFC Grant Singley and SGT Brandon Green combined 295-10X and 294-12X scores to total 589-22X. Marine Reservists GySgt Julia Watson and Sgt Eric Swearingen combined 297-14X and 293-3X scores to total 590-17X and gain a one-point victory. Watson’s 297-14X total was the top individual score of the day.

The Whistler Boy Junior Team Match was also highlighted by close competition where only two points separated the top three teams. Ryan Castonguay and Amanda Elsenboss of the Connecticut Palmer team fired 485-15X and 484-12X to total 969-27X. Elsenboss teamed with Julie Coggshall to win this match in 2006. Two teams, the California Grizzlies Gold and Washington State Rifle and Pistol Associations “Bad Applettes” both posted 971 totals. Kathrn Bugg fired 486-10X and Jason Case totaled 485-13X for the California team. Kelsi Unangst shot 486-13X and Jennifer Nyberg had 485-14X for the Washington team. The Washington team, which was coached by Jonothan Shew, had 27Xs to 23Xs for the California team to win the trophy. Shew is the CMP State Junior Director in Oregon. Jim O’Connell coached the California team, while Brad Palmer coached the Connecticut team. For the second consecutive year an all-girls team won the Whistler Boy Trophy.

The National Trophy Team Match is often called the “Big Team Match” by experienced service rifle shooters. Teams go on the line with six members, a coach and a team captain. One of the six firing members must be a “new shooter” who has not previously fired in this event. Developing a new shooter who can perform well under so much pressure is often a key to winning this match.

After winning both the six and ten-person team matches at the Interservice Matches immediately before the National Trophy Rifle Matches, the U. S. Army Marksmanship Unit team was the favorite to win this year. It was not to be an easy victory, however. In past years it was the Marines that challenged the Army team; indeed, in 2006, the Marines won big while setting a new National Matches record. This year the Marines started strong again this year. Their 579 six-person standing total, 597 sitting rapid fire and 591 prone rapid fire gave USMC Scarlet the lead after each of the first three stages. Going into the 600 yard stage, the Marines held a scant four-point lead over the Army and Army Reserves teams. But at 600 yards where the wind doping and coaching skills of team coach SSG Emil Praslick began to make a real difference, the USAMU team fired a combined 1174 600 yard total to gain a 13 point lead over USAR Gold that finished second. At the same time, the Marine team that was in the lead had a cross-fire and no single 600 yard score over 195 to drop all the way to sixth place.

One of the major trophies awarded during the matches is the Pershing Trophy that is awarded to the competitor who fires the highest individual score in the National Trophy Team Match. SFC Grant Singley, who led the Army Marksmanship Unit team, topped the Pershing Trophy list this year with a 496-22X total.

By finishing second overall, the Army Reserves won the Hilton Reserve Component Trophy by ten points over the All-Guard team. The Pennsylvania State Team finished fourth overall with a 2908-81X total to take a 13-point victory in the Soldier of Marathon Trophy contest for the top Civilian team for a third time in the past three years. In the contest for the Minuteman Trophy that goes to the top Junior team, a Washington State team was once again victorious. The Washington State “Bad Apples” Junior Team finished with a ten-point 2849-67X to 2839-64X win over California Grizzlies Gold.

The final National Trophy Rifle Team Match is the Infantry Team Match. This team competition simulates a six-person infantry team that must distribute fire at eight different targets at distances of 600, 500, 300 and 200 yards. F silhouettes are used at 600 and 500; shorter E silhouettes are used at 300 and 200. Hits at 600 count four points, at 500 three points, at 300 two points and at 200 one point. Each team receives a bonus at each yard line equal to the square of the number of targets with six or more hits. Teams start with 384 rounds and must distribute them among their six team members according to their “fire plan.” Firing stages at each of the four yard lines last 50 seconds. Strategies vary, but with the low recoil, rapid fire capabilities of the M16 rifle, top teams like the Army and Marines now strive to fire all 384 rounds at 600 and 500 yards where hits count the most. That’s an average of 32 accurate shots in 50 seconds for each team member.

USAMU Hopper won this year’s Infantry Trophy Match and the Infantry Trophy by a 119 point, 1330 to 1211 margin over USAR Gold. The USAR Gold team won the Celtic Chieftain Trophy as the high Reserve Component team. Pennsylvania finished third overall with a 1158 total to take the Leatherneck Trophy that is awarded to the high Civilian team. The Washington State R&PA “Bad Apples” junior team was fifth overall and won the Junior Infantry Trophy as the top Junior team.

Complete results for the team matches are posted on the CMP web site http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=2113. To view a complete collection of photos of the National Trophy Team Matches winners as well as of dozens of other competitors in the match, go to http://www.odcmp.com/Photos/07/NTI/index.htm. These impressive photos were taken by Web Wright, a professional photographer who is also a Triple Distinguished Shooter.

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