Goals met at 28th annual American Legion Championships

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – Hellgate Civilian Shooters Ibby Lorentz from Seeley Lake and Jonna Warnken from Superior, Mont. both returned to the American Legion Championships for a second time July 26-27 in Colorado Springs, Colo. They were among 15 shooters in the Nation invited to shoot in the precision class.

The American Legion Championship is a three-position air rifle competition for junior competitors in the sporter or precision classes. Competitors fire a total of four matches. Each match consists of 20 shots in each of three positions: prone, standing and kneeling.

The top eight competitors in sporter and precision advanced to the final round. The top shooter in each class receives a $5,000 scholarship and second place earns a $1,000 scholarship. All of the competitor's travel and hotels are paid for as well as many of the meals.

To qualify, shooters enter a postal match in February. Of the 1,300 shooters, Warnken and Lorentz made the top 25. They shot a second postal and both made the top 15 earning them an invite to the Championship.

"For us to have two kids from our club be in the top 15 in the country for the precision class and then one more Montana kid [Howie Edison] from Superior be in the top 15 of the Sporter Class, that is not bad for our little state," said Coach Lorentz. "They worked hard and gave it their all."

Lorentz said she was totally surprised when she made it in 2016 and then placed third in the precision class. She was very excited to compete again in 2018.

"It felt really good to qualify," said Lorentz. "I had so much fun, made so many friends and learned a lot about shooting [two years ago]."

Warnken competed in the sporter class in 2016 and placed seventh. This year she returned in the precision class.

"It was really exciting. I've already been there once and I knew that it was going to be even better than the first time," said Warnken. "Precision is a lot more competitive. The scores are closer so it is a lot harder to get in the top eight."

Lorentz and Warnken were among five other shooters that returned from previous years. They both loved how close everyone got with each other and how quickly they reconnected.

Coach Lorentz said he likes this match the best because all of the shooters stay in the same hotel and the American Legion "goes out of their way to build camaraderie, team work and sportsmanship amongst the athletes. They get several socials that are geared towards be more like friends instead of strictly competitors. It really is quite a magical match."

The athletes shoot one in the morning and one in the afternoon during the two-day event.

Lorentz said that she felt really good going into the matches. She was practiced and had shot enough ahead of the Championship that she was confident. Her goals were to make finals and "shoot to enjoy myself and shoot to the best that I could."

"I definitely hoped to be first but I was not going to knock myself down if I did not come in first," said Lorentz.

Lorentz shot a 592 and 590 on Day 1. Day 2 she dropped slightly to a 589 and 587 but was able to come in eight place, making the finals.

It was a 10 shot final that was standing. The score was added to the other four match scores. She shot a 100.5 out of 109. Since it was a cumulative score, she couldn't quite make up enough points to catch the leaders. She finished in eighth place.

Lorentz was happy that she made it into the finals. While she would have liked to have earned one of the scholarships offered for first and second place, "I was still happy with how it worked out."

Warnken's goals going in were to keep her confidence while shooting and shoot to the best of her ability.

Warnken was very happy with her first match score of 588. The second and third she shot a 579 and 578.

"I had two kind of rough matches but I kept my confidence and I was positive the whole time," said Warnken.

For the last match, she told herself to "step it up" because this was the last time she could come back to this match. She did, scoring 587 points in the final match.

While Warnken was happy with how she performed, she said that there were definitely things she could have done to change being 14th. She was pleased that she was still able to meet her goals.

"I'm so proud because these girls worked so hard," said Coach Lorentz.

"I would like to thank the American Legion and my post American Legion 27. It is an amazing match and a great opportunity," said Lorentz. "I'm so happy that I got to go twice and I really hope my other team members get to go."

Lorentz added a thank you to the entire community of Seeley Lake for supporting her through her shooting career with the Hellgate Civilian Shooters. She will be starting classes at U of Nebraska-Lincoln Aug. 20 where she will also shoot on their rifle team.

"It's been really great representing Montana, the Hellgate Shooters and Seeley Lake for the past six years," said Lorentz.

Warnken will be a senior at Superior High School. She will continue to shoot with the Hellgate Civilian Shooters for another year as a leader on the team.