Realizing a Dream...
In February, The First Shot ran a story about a young man
who asked his mother for an air rifle for his 15th birthday.
That one birthday request led Chris Hill, now a senior
at Woodward Academy and the captain of an air rifle team
he helped to start as a freshman, to accomplish things
that he himself perhaps couldn't even dream were possible.
In December, the Woodward Academy team placed first
in the Gary Anderson Invitational Classic. In April, the
team won the 2002 Georgia High School Rifle Championship.
Chris Hill's personal accomplishments include winning a
gold medal at the 2000 Junior Olympic Rifle Championships
as intermediate junior champion, being a member of the
2000 Junior Men's National Development Team and making
the 2000 and 2002 Georgia High School All-State Rifle Teams.
In June, Chris will enter the U.S. Air Force Academy.
The story of Chris' dream of becoming a shooting champion
and seeing his high school become a state champion is a
real cinderella story. High school rifle shooting in
Georgia is as competitive as baseball and basketball are in
some states. 110 high schools have varsity teams and
work hard at developing teams that can win in this intense
competition. Teams compete in district competitions from
January through March. Then come play-offs to determine
the top 16 teams that compete in the state meet. The state
championship has become one of the finest junior competitions
held anywhere in the country. There is a professional
announcer introducing competitors, television coverage,
several hundred spectators and more pressure than these
young shooters have ever encountered anywhere.
With so many strong teams that regularly send shooters to
top class college rifle teams, it was extremely improbable that
any team could go from just getting organized to a state
championship in three years. But Woodward Academy did
just that. Their first year they won half their matches in district
competition. Last year they qualified for the state championship
and finished a surprising third. With the entire team returning
this year, they had to shoot the whole season under the pressure
of actually being favorites to win the state meet.
The Woodward Academy team responded by producing a
dream season. They went undefeated in district competition.
They won their play-off and then dominated the state
championship when their 1156 total was 23 points higher
than the second place team. It started with one boy in a
school wanting a target air rifle for a birthday present. That
led to his convincing school authorities to start a rifle team.
What no one could have predicted was this this new rifle team
could go on to become state champions in the most competitive
high school rifle championship in the country in just three years.
Who says you should not encourage youth to dream?
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Chris Hill is shown with teammate Beth Tidmore and their championship trophy.
Chris Hill and Woodward Academy rifle team coach Sid Oliver display their championship trophy.
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