The following is distributed on behalf of Sport Newfoundland and Labrador:

Newfoundland shooter finishes nationals
with gold, silver and bronze medals and a national team spot

Dave Woolridge completed shooting this weekend at the Canadian National Small Bore Championships. Earlier in the week, Dave took a silver in three position 50-metre shooting. By mid week, he had also won a bronze in the 50-metre prone event. Having been in contention for a gold in this event, an unfortunate misfire cost him first place. However, it was in the 10-metre air rifle event where Dave had his best chances to do well.

On the first relay, Dave had a commanding lead over the main field in the Expert class. By relay two, he had slipped to third place. With a score of 1120, he had earned the seventh spot in the men's finals. In the finals, shooters have 75 seconds to shoot at one target. This is repeated 10 times. After each shot, scores to the nearest tenth of a point, are announced out loud for the spectators. These scores are added to the qualifier to determine the overall standings and medals. This was Dave's second time ever in a finals and he took an early lead, being one of a few shooters to score better than 10.0 on the first shot. He steadily improved upon this and climbed up from seventh to fifth overall and, in the process, secured the gold medal for the Men's Expert Class.

Also, as a result of his placement in the qualifying round, Dave earned a position on Canada's National Rifle Team. In 2006, he will be eligible to represent Canada on the World Cup circuit and the World Championships in Finland. This is Dave's second time on the National Team. In 2004, he shot at the World Cup in Athens.

Media contact: Dave Woolridge, (709) 754-6276

2005 08 15                       2:05 p.m.