Washington State 3 Position Junior Rifle Championship
Walla Walla High School’s JROTC Precision Rifle Team traveled to Wenatchee, WA the weekend of May 9th-11th to compete in the Washington State Junior Air Rifle and 3 Position Smallbore State Championship.
Three shooters from the program competed in a series of matches that consisted of an all-standing 40 shot indoor air rifle match Friday night, a 3 position outdoor 50 yard smallbore match on Saturday that included 20 shots from the prone position, 20 shots from the standing position and 20 shots from the kneeling position for a total of 600 points possible for each shooter and on Sunday a 100 yard 40 shot prone smallbore match.
On Friday night, Cadet Colonel Hannah Goin turned in the highest score for WaHi’s team with a 374, putting her in the state final, where she traded shots with the top 8 shooters in the state, finishing in 5th place overall. Spokane’s Breeden Ensley won the match with a 395.
On Saturday, the Blue Devils claimed the Washington State 3-Position outdoor smallbore championship, producing a total of 1,617 out of 1,800 points, narrowly defeating the Spokane Junior Rifle Club by 16 points. Capitol City Rifle Club came in third with a 1577. Walla Walla’s Micah Vawter took the highest score on the team with a 544, followed by Goin with a 540 and Rifle Team Captain Cadet Major Evan Graham with a 533.
In the prone 100-yard match on Sunday, Vawter led again with a 383, followed by Graham at 377 and Goin with a 370.
“The wind was much less of a factor here than it usually is,” said Graham of the conditions on Saturday. “We don’t shoot a lot of outdoor smallbore in our program. It’s good to know that we can come to an entirely different environment and still have a successful match.”
