SEELEY LAKE - Hellgate Civilian Shooter Ibby Lorentz of Seeley Lake was one of two shooters from Montana to attend the American Legion National Championship in Colorado Springs, Colo. at the end of July. Ibby finished third in the nation for junior precision shooters missing less than 36 points out of 2,500 possible.
Ibby was among 1,500 shooters to enter the American Legion Postal Match for junior shooters, freshman through seniors, during the 2015-2016 school year. Shooters compete on their home ranges under specific rules. The scores are submitted and shooters are ranked nationally in either the precision or sporter class.
Those that ranked in the top 25 shot a semi-final Postal Match at their home range. From this match, the top 15 in the precision and sporter classes are chosen. Jonna Warnken from Superior, Mont. made the top 15 in the sporter class and Ibby placed second in the precision class.
The American Legion paid for their trip to the National Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. The Montana Post 27 from Missoula, Mont sponsored Ibby. Ibby shot shoulder-to-shoulder with the top 15 shooters in four, three-position (3P) matches over two days. The three positions include standing, kneeling and prone. The tournament ended with a 10-shot final match with the top eight shooters.
"It wasn't too bad," said Ibby. "I've shot matches that long in small bore."
However, after competing at nationals and seeing who she would compete against, Ibby realized the competition was going to be tougher than she was initially expecting. Ibby's father and coach Chris Lorentz said that the winners of both the precision and sporter classes set tournament records and there were two other records set in specific positions.
"Competition was intense," said Chris. "This was some of the highest scoring competitions the American Legion has ever seen. Any one of the kids there, on a good day, could have been in the lead. There was not a lot of room for error."
During one of the matches in the prone position, every shooter in the clusters of six, that included Ibby, shot 20 bullseyes in a row for a perfect score of 200.
"I tried to ignore the other people's scores," said Ibby. "Since I shot a perfect 200, I was pretty confident that I'm shooting on par with where these people are. The more stressful part is standing and looking how others are shooting in standing compared to how I'm doing."
To add to the mental pressure and long days, Chris said the temperatures in the range were in the upper 90 degrees Fahrenheit. With all of their gear on for the precision shooters, this adds having to regulate their breathing and pulse.
Ibby said she shot about average in her first match. In the second match, she tied her personal record (PR) set in competition. She continued to set new PRs, in the third match by two points and in the fourth match she beat her new PR by four points. She made it into the top eight for the final match. She was ranked fourth going in.
The final included 10 shots. Shooters were given 50 seconds to shoot. Chris said the ranger officer announced that during the 50 seconds that the shooters have to shoot "the audience is not encouraged to cheer and clap, it is required." The scores were announced after every shot so the shooters and the audience knew exactly where everyone was.
After the ten-shot final, Ibby finished in third for the tournament with a score of 2,469.4 of 2,500 possible points. There was only a four-point spread from first place to fourth place in the precision class.
Ibby said that she was able to move into third place by applying what she learned at standing camp just weeks before, focusing on being smooth and following her shot plan. It also helped that one of the shooters that was ahead of her and the girl that she was really close to both shot an eight out of 10 on their last shot.
Ibby and Chris both agreed that this tournament was different. There were several opportunities facilitated by the American Legion that encouraged shooters, coaches and parents to interact and get to know each other. Ibby said that during other matches she would be lucky to connect with one other shooter. By the end of the match she knew many of the other shooters well and they had exchanged phone numbers to keep in touch after it was over.
The first place winner receives a $5,000 scholarship and second place received $1,000. Ibby earned herself an award plaque and a lot of exposure for college.
"This match really showed I can shoot well," said Ibby. "It wasn't just one match. If you can shoot well through four matches at the Olympic Training Center with the best of the best in really hot ranges that really does mean you can shoot well."
Shooters can only participate every other year. Ibby hopes to return her senior year and take first place.
"Thank you for having the match and sending us all to Colorado Springs," said Ibby. "It was a really interesting and unique match where everyone was nice. It was a really cool opportunity and it was really well put together and organized. They took care of us."
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