Local shooters do well in Junior Olympic state championship

February 5, 2023

By Ryan Comer

Kyalynn Comer

The North Idaho Junior Olympic Rifle Championship took place on the weekend of January 17 at the Kootenai Valley Rifle Range. Shooters from the Bonners Ferry (KV), Sandpoint and Coeur d’Alene clubs represented. Their scores of shooters were combined with competitors from southern Idaho and the 2023 Idaho Junior Olympic Champions declared.

The shooters compete with single shot .22 caliber rifles, using iron sights, at a distance of 50 feet indoors. In the positions of kneeling, prone and standing, they complete 20 shots in each position. To score a ten, a shooter must take out a dot not much bigger than the period at the end of this sentence.

Ellie Rutherford of the KV team, shooting in the 18–21-year-old category, was the North Idaho Champion, averaging a score of 8.9 per shot and a total score of 535 of the 600 points possible, putting her in third place state wide.

Elijah Spencer, Twin Falls, finished first in the bracket with a score of 572, earning a berth compete at the Junior Olympics in Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training Center.

Meggie Kahanek, also of the KV team, finished second in the 15–17-year-old category, averaging a score of 8.3 per shot and a total score of 499. Aubrey Anderson, Twin Falls, took the championship with 555 overall points.

Gabriel Lester of the Sandpoint Junior Rifle Club, with a score of 492, finished third. He was also top male shooter in the state, also receiving an invitation to compete in Colorado Springs.

Representing the KV Club, Salix Harris, Troy, came away a state champion with a score of 491 in the under 15-year-old category and Kyalynn Comer came in third with a score of 452.

The teams will finish up their season with matches at the rifle ranges in Bonners Ferry, Spokane, Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint.

If you are interested in learning more about, or returning to, the sport of competitive shooting, please stop by the range on Highway 2 Wednesday or Thursday evenings at 6:30 p.m. or contact Don Jordan, (208) 610-0226.