By Kathy Konek
On January 18, the Kootenai Valley Rifle Club, in Bonners Ferry, hosted the Idaho State Junior Olympic Rifle Championship. Nineteen shooters from the Bonners Ferry (KV), Sandpoint, and Coeur d’Alene (CdA) clubs along with Little Explorers 4H from Boise and the AJROTC from Walla Walla, Washington, high school were represented.
The shooters competed with single shot .22 caliber rifles, using iron sights, at a distance of 50 feet indoors. They completed 20 shots in each of the kneeling, prone and standing positions. To score a ten, a shooter must take out a dot not much bigger than the period at the end of this sentence.
Hannah Goin of the Walla Walla team, shooting in the 15-17 year-old category, was the top shooter, averaging a score of 9.1 per shot and a total score of 547 of the 600 points possible. Teammate Evan Graham would take second overall with a score of 536.
Following close behind, in the same age category, Paige Sartell of the KV team would be third overall and Idaho State Champion, averaging a score of 8.9 per shot and a total score of 531.
Kyalynn Comer, also of the KV team, was top in the under 15 year-old category and fourth overall with a score of 517.
Brianna Poirier, also in the under 15 year-old category, traveling from Boise to represent the Little Explorers 4H Club, would take second place for this group with a score of 506, a more than 40 point improvement from the previous year.
Wren Tye of the KV team, in her first year of competitive shooting, scored a 500, which put her in third out of the nine shooters in this age category.
Emmett Lowman of the Sandpoint Jr Rifle team took first in the 18-21 year-old category, and was top male Idaho resident with a score of 497.
Seven of the nineteen shooters would then continue and compete with competition grade air rifles. Again, using iron sights, but at a distance of 33 feet, they would complete 60 shots in the standing position.
Goin again came out on top, averaging 9.6 points per shot, with a score of 575 out of 600 possible. Graham would again take second, with a score of 561. Comer would take third, and Idaho State Champion, with a score of 532. Poirier was awarded the Idaho silver medal with a score of 512, and shooting air rifle for only the second time, Alora Rasor of the Sandpoint team took bronze with a score of 499.
Sartell, Lowman and Comer, for winning their perspective disciplines, should receive an invitation to compete at the Junior Olympics in Alabama in April. If they decide to go, they would appreciate the community’s support. Please contact the club for more information.
The teams will finish up their season with matches at the rifle ranges in Bonners Ferry, Spokane and Sandpoint. If you are interested in learning more about, or returning to, the sport of competitive shooting. Please stop by the range on Wednesday, or Thursday, evening at 6:30 p.m. or contact Don Jordan at (208) 610-0226. See you on the range!