The following is being distributed at the request of Sport Newfoundland and Labrador:

Shooters perform well in Airgun

Five shooters from the Newfoundland and Labrador Shooting Association shot their best scores at the Crossman Airgun Championships held in Toronto, Ontario this past weekend. Led by Mark Hynes, an air pistol shooter from Bristol's Hope, Conception Bay, all shooters shot their personal best scores in one of the largest airgun competitions held in the world.

Hynes scored 563 and 551 in his two 60 shot matches for a total of 1,114 out of a possible 1,200 to finish seventh overall. Then in the finals, where the top eight shooters are required to shoot an additional 10 shots, he scored 96.8, the second highest score, and moved up to finish in fifth place.

John Rochon of Ontario won gold with a score of 1,228.2. Shooters from New York and Quebec won silver and bronze respectively, and another Ontario shooter finished fourth.

Claude Pike, coach of the province's air rifle team for the 1999 Canada Winter Games, took a prospective team of four juniors to the competition to give them exposure and the experience of shooting in a major championship, Chris Linehan, Julie Dunphy, and Josephine Cocoran, from Enight Memorial Army Cadet Corps in St. Mary's Bay, and Chris Elliott, of the Caribou Gun Club in Mount Pearl, proved they could deal with the tension and anxiety associated with big matches by shooting their personal best scores and feeling they can shoot even better.

The Crossman Championship had 251 competitors from Canada, United States, Japan and Australia.

Contact: Claude Pike, (709) 368-9336.