By Kathy Konek
Junior rifle shooters from the Sandpoint and Kootenai Valley (KV) clubs participated in the Washington State Junior Smallbore Indoor Championships on Saturday, March 8. They travelled to the Spokane Rifle club to participate while shooters from Western Washington shot the weekend before. Scores were combined and the Idaho shooters proved they are competitors.
Each individual shot at a distance of 50 feet indoor, using single shot .22 rifles with iron sights. They aim for a dot not larger than the period at the end of this sentence to score 10 points.
Shooters are scored overall and also split in several ways. By age with Intermediate Juniors (15-17 year old) and by past scores (A and B Class).
50 shooters took the line over the two weekends, and Alora Rasor, Sandpoint, broke into the top 10, placing eighth with a score of 1050 of the 1200 possible.
Shooting 40 shots in the prone position, Paige Sartell (KV) placed third overall, falling by just one point to the tie for first. This, however, placed her first in the B Class.
In the standing position, again 40 shots, Kyalynn Comer (KV) was 10th overall. This also placed her third in the A Class, with Rasor tying for fourth.
Rasor, in the kneeling position, and another 40 shots, was just eight points out of first, taking fifth place overall. However, she placed first out of the shooters at the Spokane range.
The largest division for this match was Intermediate Junior making up 37 of the 50 shooters, Rasor was sixth, Comer 11th and Sartell 14th.
In the A Class, Rasor placed second and Comer fifth. In the B Class, Sartell placed fifth out of 16 participants.
Our shooting teams and competitions are open to everyone – but our local Junior rifle teams are currently dominated by women.
A rifle match takes place at the Kootenai Valley Range at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 15-16, on Highway 2, with 17 competitors expected. If you are interested in learning more about, or returning to, this sport, please contact a member of the rifle team.