Hellgate Civilian Shooters at the CMP Regional Championships. Front (L-R): Libby Diller, Jonna Warnken, Laurisa Ross and Berit Bedord. MIddle (L-R): Aakylah Red Fox, Marcus Klemp, Sam Weisenburger, Ellis McAfee, Kyndall McPhillips. Back (L-R): Coaches Trace Weisenburger and Don Warnken.
The Hellgate Civilian Shooters team posted a second place finish and Jonna Warnken and Berit Bedord placed in the top eight individuals at the Civilian Marksmanship (CMP) Regional Championship April 4-6 in Sandy, Utah. The next weekend Marcus Klemp and Sam Weisenburger participated in the National Junior Olympic Shooting Championships held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Each Regional Championship is a three-position air rifle competition. Sporter and precision class athletes fire 20 shots from three positions: prone, standing and kneeling. Three separate matches were held at CMP venues around the country, including the Gary Anderson CMP Competition Center at Camp Perry, Ohio, the CMP's south air gun range at the South Competition Center in Anniston, Ala., as well as through the use of its Mobile Range in Sandy, Utah.
Out of the 18 teams invited to the Regional Championship, the Hellgate Civilian Shooters brought two. Warnken, Libby Diller, Sam Weisenburger and Marcus Klemp were on the first team.
On Day 1 of the match, they were ahead of the Gallatin Valley Sharp Shooters from Bozeman by one point. The Sharp Shooters made up the deficit and put distance between them and Hellgate's top team for the win on day two finishing with 4623 total points, eight points ahead of Hellgate's 4615 final score.
The team earned $1,200 towards their travel to Nationals this July. Each shooter also received a medal.
Bedord, Laurisa Ross, Ellis McAfee and Aakylah Red Fox made up Hellgate's second team. They placed 11th with a score of 4499. This put them 28th overall in the country missing the national invite by one place.
There were 86 individuals invited to shoot at the Regional Championships. Out of the top eight shooters, five shooters were from Montana.
Two of Hellgate's shooters shot in the top eight. Warnken shot 1273.8 points, 0.9 points less than first place Nina Schuett of Bozeman, for a second place finish. Bedord placed eighth with a score of 1257.7.
"We already had our invitation to Nationals [for one team]," said Head Coach Trace Weisenburger. "For us, this was just a good competition for us to go shoot and get experience for all our kids."
Of the 180 teams in the country, 27 teams are invited to the National Championships in Camp Perry, Ohio July 13-15. The Hellgate Civilian Shooters are ranked seventh based on their performance at regionals. The national team will include Klemp, Weisenburger and Diller. The fourth shooter will be determined by the coaches once they get back to practice.
Junior Olympics
Weisenburger and Klemp went to the junior Olympics April 9-11. They were among 172 shooters, of the 700 nationally, that received an invite.
Klemp took 48th overall as a 13-year-old. He received a bronze medal for third place for 14 year olds and under. Coach Weisenburger said he did extremely well for a first-year shooter.
Weisenburger took 138th of 172.
"Both kids both days had awesome performances but sometimes performance doesn't always add up in the score which is what happened with Sam," said Coach Weisenburger.
Coach Weisenburger said that on top of the pressure to shoot well at the Junior Olympics there is the additional pressure of collegiate coaches scouting. This year there were eight coaches from West Point, the Air Force, the Navy, Ohio State and Kentucky.
Coach Weisenburger added, "It is just a lot of pressure."
The Shooters will resume practice for Nationals after a few weeks off. Steve McAfee of Missoula won the rifle raffle for the Weatherby Vanguard 6.5 caliber with 3X9 scope.
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