A total of 317 competitors participated in the Western Creedmoor Cup Matches 4-day event in mid-October.

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - In conjunction with the Civilian Marksmanship Program's Western Games held 11-14 October where a record number of shooters participated, the Creedmoor Cup Matches followed at the Ben Avery (Black Canyon) Shooting Facility on 15-19 October.

The Creedmoor Cup Matches, co-sponsored by CMP and Creedmoor Sports, Inc. of Oceanside, California, gave shooters an opportunity to participate in a rifle clinic plus four days of match and service rifle competition.

On Wednesday, Ken Roxburgh, retired USMC Master Gunnery Sergeant, conducted a free highpower rifle shooting clinic with assistance from members of Team Bushmaster and two-time national champion, Dennis DeMille, USMC (Ret.).

The clinic provided attendees with lecture, demonstration, dry-fire activities and plenty of hands-on coaching from some of the finest competitive shooters in the nation.

The following day, shooters participated in a practice match which gave them a chance to hone their skills with sighters and 10 shots standing at 200 yards, sighters and 10 shots sitting rapid fire at 200 yards, sighters and 10 shots prone rapid fire at 300 yards and sighters and 20 shots prone slow fire at 600 yards.

On Friday, the four-person USMC Arrieta team, captained by CWO2 Peter Burns and coached by MSgt Alexander Arrieta, shot an aggregate score of 1915-53X to win the service rifle Creedmoor Team Match. Firing members of the team were CWO4 James Fraley, CWO2 Burns, SSgt Daniel Duitsman and SSgt Jason Haislip. The course of fire was the National Match Course Team Match shot at 200, 300 and 600 yards. The Oregon State Shooting Association team of Charles Spiker, Abraham Kamerman, Carl Haggland III and Trenton Hering took second place honors with a 1902-46X.

The match rifle team winner took the name “An Officer & 3 Gentlemen.” It was captained by Michael Miller and coached by LCDR Yvonne Lyda, USN. Team members Michael Miller, Mike Barranco, Nile Ragusin and LCDR Yvonne Lyda scored 1862-29X for the win. The “Many Ex's” team of Kenneth Walston, Matthew Hubert, Royal Hubert and Bryan Johnson placed second with an aggregate score of 1763-21X.

On Saturday, competitors fired the Creedmoor Cup Match, the headliner event for the week. The Creedmoor Cup Aggregate Match Rifle winner was Ron Zerr with an aggregate score of 791-31X. Trenton Hering was victorious in the Service Rifle category posting an aggregate score of 789-25X. TSgt David Johnson USAF won the as-issued US Rifle aggregate with a total of 745-18X.

The top junior Creedmoor Aggregate shooter was Tyler Rico with a score of 780-31X and the top senior was Gerald Tierney with a score of 774-19X. High woman accolades went to Kathryn Bugg who fired a 776-22X.

Australian David Waters fired a 479-12X in the Creedmoor Cup EIC match which earned him 10 EIC points. After the Western Creedmoor Cup Matches, Waters traveled to Texas to earn his last Distinguished points and became the first non-U.S. citizen to earn the Distinguished Rifleman Badge.

Shooters closed the matches on Sunday, 19 October, with the Creedmoor Excellence-In-Competition, 500-point Individual Match, a National Match Course with 10 shots, 200 yards slow fire standing, 10 shots, 200 yards rapid fire standing to sitting, 10 shots 300 yards rapid fire, standing to prone and 20 shots at 600 yards slow fire, prone.

Distinguished rifle shooters Charles Spiker, Kathryn Bugg and Trenton Hering took overall first through third place in service rifle with scores of 487-11X, 486-16X and 482-11X, respectively. Match rifle shooters Gerald Tierney, Abraham Kamerman and Jeff Dedischew took the overall top three places with scores of 483-9X, 473-6X and 453-5X, respectively.

There were a total of 83 Non-Distinguished competitors firing in the EIC match with eight legs awarded. David Waters of Glenbrook, New South Wales, Australia, placed first earning the 10 point leg with a score of 479-12X. Cpl Brad Hayes, USMC, of San Diego, California, Cheyanne Acebo, of Vacaville, California, and Robert Harper, of Tucson, Arizona, all earned 8 point legs and Michael Huffaker, of Laguna Hills, California, Jonathan Ocab, of Riverside, California, Owen Devereux, of Carson City, Nevada, and Kenneth Bugg, of Vacaville, California all earned 6 point legs.

Competitors were treated to a barbecue and awards program Saturday, 18 October, where numerous prizes were provided by Creedmoor Sports, Bushmaster, Hornady, Kalispel, Kowa Optical, Doug Giraud, Carl Bernosky, and Northern Competition.

Among the more notable entrants in the matches was USMC Retired Gunnery Sergeant R. Lee Ermey who has become a regular attendee at high power rifle competitions. The Gunny attended the entire 8 day event, beginning with the CMP Games. He was also gracious enough to help raise more than $1,400 for the M1 for Vets program by signing copies of the 2008 Creedmoor Sports Catalog that features a photo of him on the cover. An additional $1,400 was raised by raffling off a match-conditioned Bushmaster Service Rifle, which was donated by Bushmaster upon seeing the overwhelming desire of competitors to support the M1 for Vets program. If you wish to make a contribution to M1 for Vets Project please contact JJ O’Shea at jjoshea@msn.com.

For complete results of the CMP Western Games and Creedmoor Cup Matches, see the following link http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=3773 and event photos are posted at http://www.odcmp.com/Photos/08/WesternCreedmoor/index.htm. For information about the 2009 Western Games and Creedmoor Cup matches, visit http://www.odcmp.com/Competitions/WesternGames.htm.