CMP South Competition Center in Anniston, Alabama held two new events in November and December.

The Inaugural Dixie Double Precision Air Rifle and Air Pistol Event surpassed the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s highest expectations thanks to the turnout of several of the nation’s most talented competitors, outstanding marksmanship and a Sunday rifle final that kept competitors and spectators riveted until the final shot.

In that open division second day match final, a 10-meter event, two 2008 Beijing Olympians locked horns, each waiting for the other to flinch. Neither did. Each fired a total of 140 shots in the 60-shot standing matches, plus finals and Nicco Campriani, 22, of Florence, Italy, held off a persistent Matt Emmons, 28, of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, to win the overall rifle aggregate, 1399.6 to 1398.

Nicco Campriani, 22, of Florence, Italy, held off a persistent Matt Emmons, 28, of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, to win the overall rifle aggregate, 1399.6 to 1398.

Emmons pressed Campriani when he fired an amazing 105.1 to Campriani’s impressive 103.7 in the 10-shot Sunday final. Campriani’s second day aggregate of 701.7 barely surpassed Emmons’ 701.1 and was enough to hold onto the gold medal.

On Saturday, Campriani and Emmons tied with 594, trailing U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) shooters SFC Jason Parker, 35, and SPC Matt Rawlings, 29, who each shot a 596. SFC Parker and SPC Rawlings each fired 594 in the 60 on Sunday, leaving the door open for the Campriani (598) and Emmons (596) showdown.

Campriani is currently attending West Virginia University and will join the Mountaineer rifle team in January 2010. He is a six-year member of the Italian National Team and lately has been touring alongside the U.S. National Team. He won the silver medal in the 50-meter 3P event at the May May 2009 World Cup in Milan.

Mike Dickey, 52, a Paralympic athlete from Trafford, Alabama, fired an out-of-competition score of 1397.7.

Emmons won the gold medal in the 50-meter prone rifle event at the 2004 Athens Games and the silver medal in the same event at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Junior Emily Holsopple, 17, of Wilcox, Pennsylvania, swept the women’s Day 1 and Day 2 rifle matches and finals with an aggregate score of 1389.7. She also teamed with open USA Shooting team member Meghann Morrill, 23, of Verdi, New Mexico, to win the air rifle team match with an aggregate score of 2366.

In air pistol, the USAMU’s SFC Daryl Szarenski also swept all open pistol events with an aggregate total of 1361.2.

Junior Jacob Hall captured the Junior Pistol Championship and also teamed placed first in the air pistol team match firing with SFC Daryl Szarenski.

Junior Jacob Hall, 17, of Carrollton, Georgia, won Day 1 and Day 2 pistol matches and finals with an aggregate total of 1262. The team of Szarenski and Hall won the team title in air pistol with an aggregate score of 2231.

Other performances of note included the air rifle shooting of junior Samantha Trisdale, 17, of Aurora, Colorado, who placed second overall with an aggregate score of 1379.6 and junior Christopher Clemmons, 19, of Columbus, Georgia, who fired a 1373.4 aggregate.

Junior air pistol shooter, Michael Wilson, 19, of Villa Rica, Georgia, shot a two-day aggregate score of 1252.1 to finish second. In open competition, national team members Jason Turner, 34, fired a two-day aggregate of 1348.6 to finish second and GySgt Richard Gray, 38, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, fired a 1335.9 to finish third.

In air rifle team competition, the tandem of open shooter Matt Wallace, 26, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and junior Samantha Trisdale scored a two-day aggregate of 2357 for second place and third place went to the team of open shooter Jonathan Hall, 21, of Carrollton, Georgia, and junior Christopher Clemmons with a score of 2354.

In the supported air pistol division, Jackson Leverett III won the gold medal.

Jackson Leverett III, 9, of Bainbridge, Georgia, led all junior supported air pistol shooters for both days, defeating his brother Henry, 8, and sister Abbie, 6. The Leveretts were coached by father Jack and mother Ashley.

The Dixie Double was the first of its kind for the new CMP Anniston Marksmanship Center, which houses a 10-meter, 80-firing point, electronically-scored indoor range using the MEGALink scoring system. It’s the second type of its facility in the CMP system. The first went into operation at Camp Perry in Port Clinton, Ohio in 2008.

The event featured a pair of 60-shot international air rifle standing and air pistol matches for open men and women and junior men and women. USA Shooting sanctioned the matches as Performance Standard Average (PSA) or Performance Standard Individual (PSI) events. It was also sanctioned as a Preliminary Tryout.

The CMP Marksmanship Center South in Anniston, Alabama, offers several air gun matches throughout the year. Visit http://www.odcmp.com/MarksmanshipCenters.htm for more information.

Several members of the National Rifle Team, coached by Maj. David Johnson and the National Pistol Team, coached by Sergey Luzov, participated in the matches. In addition, several members of the USAMU participated in the matches. Overall, 59 open and junior rifle shooters competed and another 22 pistol competitors fired in the matches.

The National Team is made up of the top open athletes that have achieved the Performance Standard Average (PSA) or Performance Standard Individual (PSI). The National Development Team consists of the open athletes that have not achieved the PSA or PSI and the National Junior Team is for junior age athletes that meet the tryout criteria for the National Junior Team.

For complete results of the Dixie Double event in Anniston, log onto http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=5006.