Blue Devil Cadets Win Washington State Junior Olympic Rifle Match
The Blue Devil JROTC Precision Rifle Team claimed the Washington State Junior Olympic Smallbore Rifle Championship at the Spokane Rifle Club on Saturday, January 11th. The match was held in 3 different locations in Washington State in January, with over 30 shooters from 10 different rifle teams across the state represented. Individual athletes in this match may receive invitations to the Junior Olympic National Championship held at the Olympic Training Center this April.
In Junior Olympics, shooters compete in a pair of matches, both scored separately. The first is a smallbore .22 rifle match fired from the kneeling, prone and finally the standing positions at a distance of 50 feet. Each position has a possible score of 200, for a total of 600 points. The smallbore match is followed by a separate air rifle match, 60 record shots, all fired from the standing position at a distance of 10 meters.
WaHi’s top shooter in the smallbore match Saturday morning was Cadet Lieutenant Claire Calvert who fired a 555 out of 600, followed by Cadet Captain Sarah Nelson with a 532. Calvert’s score won the women’s match for the Spokane location and placed in third place overall in the state. The Blue Devil Team, consisting of Calvert, Nelson, Cadet Lieutenant Noah Kaheaku and Cadet Lieutenant Evelyn Wolf, finished the smallbore match with a 1976, winning the match just 9 points ahead of the Spokane Rifle Club who claimed silver.
“Claire fired the highest smallbore score we’ve seen here at WaHi in almost a decade,” said Rifle Coach Mark Mebes after the match Saturday. “We have made a significant investment in smallbore shooting this year. It is great to see results like this so quickly.”
That afternoon the Blue Devils competed in the air rifle match with Nelson taking 3rd place overall in the women’s division with a 573 and Kaheaku taking 4th in the men’s division behind a 566.
“Nelson and Kaheaku’s scores will almost certainly qualify both of them for the Junior Olympic National Match in Colorado,” said Mebes. “There is also a chance that Calvert’s smallbore score will get her an invitation as well.”
Once the scores were tabulated on Sunday evening after the last teams had completed WaHi’s air rifle team had taken second place in the state with a 1696. The top team placement went to the Spokane Junior Club with a 1704.
The Blue Devils returned home to train for a very busy February; including a league match in Kennewick, the Pardini Air Rifle Nationals in Ohio, and the Army National Match in Salt Lake City, Utah.
