2006 Montgomery Bell Academy Rifle Classic Exceeds Expectations

By Sommer Wood, CMP Writer/Editor

The 2005 Montgomery Bell Academy Rifle Classic saw its lowest numbers in years. Many school teams had not returned to practice last fall because of lingering effects of the 2004 Navy and Army JROTC safety stand downs. Attendance was 285; that’s tremendous by anyone else’s standard, but not what MBA varsity rifle coach Leo Lujan had grown to expect for his premier tournament, which averaged 320 participants in previous years.

2006 was a different story as the MBA Classic again proved itself as the largest school sponsored shooting competition in the nation. From the 13th to the 15th of October, a record 348 individuals, representing 70 schools in 17 states, made the pilgrimage to Nashville, TN. So many additional shooters created a need for seven relays in the 3x20 match (twenty shots each in prone, standing and kneeling) that took place on Friday and Saturday. The weekend of competition ended on Sunday with a 40-shot precision standing event. Each year the MBA Classic also features a marksmanship clinic; this year the Army Marksmanship Unit conducted clinics on Friday and Saturday covering each of the shooting positions and mental training. Champions Choice from LaVergne, TN also was on hand with a variety of equipment for the shopping shooter.

The MBA Classic offers three-position air rifle competition in both precision and sporter classes, with a special award category in sporter for competitors with pneumatic sporters. Awards were given to the teams and individuals with the top aggregate scores in each award category after finals were completed on Saturday afternoon. In the finals, the top eight competitors in each of three award categories fired ten additional shots from the standing position. The final round score was added to the score fired in the 3x20 match to determine the overall winners. In a final, competitors have 75 seconds to fire a shot and scores are announced after each shot. This makes finals exciting for spectators and nerve racking for the athletes.

In the Precision class, there was a close contest between last year’s gold medal team, Shelby County HS MCJROTC from Shelbyville, KY, and Northside HS from Columbus, GA. Both teams fired total scores of 2315. Ties are broken according to the total of the last 10 shots kneeling fired by each team member, and Northside came out victorious. Members of the top team were Kevin Lawton, 581; Forrest Klein, 576; Michelle Postma, 571; and Courtney Scott, 587. The team was led by coach LTC Richard Brewer. Just missing the repeat victory for Shelby County HS MCJROTC were Stephen Jenkins, 572; Tyler Wininger, 579; Kent Wilcox, 582; and Logan Fox, 582. They were coached by MSGT Gerald Lyons. Earning the team bronze medal with a 2308 was Chilton County HS from Clanton, AL. Team members Megan Dees, 573; Jessica Phenis, 592; Kacey Davis, 574; and Ben Spinger, 569, were under the guidance of coach Joyce Gladden.

The individual gold medalist in the precision class was Jessica Phenis of Chilton County HS, who was a member of the bronze medal team. Phenis shot a 592+91=683. Courtney Scott, a member of the gold medal team from Northside HS, shot a 93 in the final to force a sudden-death tie-breaking shot with Jordan Smith of Quincy Senior HS in Quincy, IL. Smith dropped to third when Scott shot a 10 and he shot a 9 on the tie-breaker. Scott finished with a 587+93=680 for the sliver and Smith had a 588+92=680 for the bronze.

The sporter class was broken into two divisions at the MBA Classic, CO2/compressed air and pneumatic. Normally all sporter rifles are in the same class, but National Standard Three-Position Air Rifle Rules give match sponsors the option of offering special awards for competitors with pneumatic air rifles. Participation numbers were high and competition was close in each division. In the team event for CO2/compressed air Sporter rifles, Central Crossing HS Navy JROTC from Grove City, OH won its second gold medal in a row at the MBA Classic. In 2005, Central Crossing won the pneumatic class with a commanding 89 point lead. This year the team again dominated, winning the CO2/compressed air competition with a 32 point victory. Central Crossing team members were Samantha Bills, 542; Jim Fitz, 549; Caleb Taffin, 512; and Robbie Ferner, 527; to give the team 2130. The team was led by CAPT Peter MacKay. The silver medal went to Ozark HS Army JROTC from Ozark, MO coached by 1SG Terry Thompson. Team members Kelsea Hunt, 511; Rob Thompson, 531; Jacob Edwards, 529; and Sarah Spurlock, 527; combined for a team total of 2098. Rounding out the top three was traditional Louisiana powerhouse and last years gold medal team, Bogalusa HS Army JROTC from Bogalusa, LA. The team, coached by MAJ Ricky Fredieu, combined for a team total 2083 to earn the bronze medal. The team consisted of Tanner Pritchard, 524; Brandon Landrum, 509; Cory Camp, 541; and Nicholas O’Quin, 509.

Another 2005 champion found his way back to the winner’s podium in 2006. Last year Brian Byrd of C.E. Byrd HS Army JROTC in Shreveport, LA won the individual gold in the pneumatic sporter class; this year he won gold again, competing in the CO2/compressed air division. Byrd finished with a 560+86=646 to claim the gold. He was followed by Jim Fitz of Central Crossing HS, who was a member of their gold medal team. Fitz shot a 549+85=634 for the silver. The bronze medal came down to a tie-breaker shot between Noel Maxwell from Warren East HS in Bowling Green, KY and Cory Camp of Bogalusa HS. Camp entered the final in fifth place and Maxwell entered it in seventh place, but both shot impressive finals to put them in the hunt for a medal. At the conclusion of the final both were tied and it was Maxwell who shot a 9 to Camp’s 8 in the tie-breaker shot to claim the bronze. Maxwell finished with a 539+88=627.

In the pneumatic sporter division, Sarasota Military Academy from Sarasota, FL reclaimed the gold medal. The team won the gold in 2004, but slipped to second in 2005. This year though the team posted a dominating score of 1973 and took first place with a 47 point lead. The team was led by SFC Riess Pellegrino and firing members Chad Andrews, 491; Kevin Hobson, 483; Cristian Urrea, 498; and Brent Rudisill, 501. Finishing in second with a 1926 was Gibbs HS Army JROTC from Coryton, TN. This was an improvement for Gibbs HS that finished as the bronze medal team in 2005. The team consisted of Jason Belt, 480; Karol Lockey, 486; Justin Cheek, 465; and Amanda Hethcoat, 495 and was coached by COL Melvin Shafer. Finishing with the bronze medal was David Crockett HS Navy JROTC from Jonesborough, TN with a team score of 1856. The team was coached by CDR John Roberts; team members were Brandon Cutshall, 454; Myra Travis, 476; Lora Travis, 452; and Brandy Cantrell, 474.

After winning the team gold medal, Sarasota Military Academy swept the individual awards in the pneumatic sporter division. Brent Rudisill entered the final with the lead and he held on for the gold with an overall score of 501+67=568. Teammate Chad Andrews entered the final in third place but shot a 73 in the final to overcome teammate Cristian Urrea for the silver. Andrews shot a 491+73=564 for second place and Urrea shot a 498+58=556 for third.

In 1998, a precision international standing match was added to the MBA Classic program to give competitors staying over till Sunday an additional event. The 40 shot event has been a success; it doubled in size from 2005 to 2006, with 88 individuals and 14 teams participating this year.

The top team in the precision standing event was Shelby County HS. Team members Stephen Jenkins, 381; Tyler Wininger, 382; Kent Wilcox, 386; and Logan Fox were not going to be denied twice in one weekend and claimed the victory with a 27 point lead over Chilton County HS. Chilton County HS took home the gold individual medal with a 388 performance by Jessica Phenis. This was the second individual gold of the weekend for Phenis.

Tentative dates for the 2007 MBA Classic are 12-14 October. Be sure to block off those dates on your calendars and plan to get your entries in early as this major junior competition is expected to fill to capacity again. For complete scores from the 2006 MBA Classic, visit the CMP website at http://www.odcmp.org/1106/MBAResults.pdf.