Shooters from across the Avalon gathered at the Frank Zahn High Performance Marksmanship and CSCA Training Facility in St. John�s to shoot in this season�s first official air rifle and air pistol competition. The competition saw junior shooters begin the trials process for the Canadian Air Gun Grand Prix in 2010. This match resulted in a women�s provincial record, many outstanding individual efforts and three shooters being deemed eligible for the 2009�2010 provincial junior rifle team.

Brenda Greene finished the women�s relay on Saturday with a 385 out of 400 setting a new provincial record. Brenda is Newfoundland�s first representative on the DND, CISM shooting Team. Brenda is preparing to earn a spot for the CISM World Championship team this coming summer. Teammates Samantha Marsh was top sharpshooter with a 359 and Megan Harris was top Tyro with a 264. Both Samantha and Megan put in milestone performances as they continue to develop their skills for the 2011 Canada Winter Games. All three athletes train in the Frank Zahn High Performance Marksmanship and CSCA Training Facility at Memorial University.

Shooting 574 out of 600, top senior men�s air rifle went to Dave Woolridge of St. John�s. Top sharpshooter and junior men�s air rifle went to Ben Taylor with a 526. Taylor narrowly took this over team mate Jason Harnum. Dave Taylor clinched to Marksman with a 466 overcoming newcomer Yu Zhang.

In air pistol, Tony Smith secured the top honours in the men�s air pistol event with 515 out of 600. Dave Taylor led the field of marksmen classed shooters, taking the gold with a 474. Newcomer Cheryl Hearn of St. Catherine�s was first in the junior�s women�s class with a 133 / 400. Finally Richard Power, also of St. Catherine�s was top in the junior men�s event with a 419.

Organizers were please with the turn out citing there were 12 shooters, with 15 starts and three brand new athletes. Adding a provincial record to the event was just the cherry on top. There many aspects to this match making it very important to the competitors. For juniors this event was primarily a trail for a position on the 2009�10 provincial team. Samantha Marsh, Ben Taylor and Jason Harnum fired beyond the minimum qualifying score for the team. In addition to this most of all of the shooters were testing their training, mid way to the 2009 Canadian Air Gun Grand Prix. Happily most of the shooters set personal bests. Finally all the participants will be applying their scores to an e-match with clubs in St. Stephen and Sackville New Brunswick this week. In two similar matches held earlier this fall Newfoundland has lead the field and team coaches feel confident that we will continue to dominate.

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Photo: Brenda Greene, Megan Harris, Rebecca Butland, Cheryl Hearn.

Media contact:
Dave Woolridge
709-778-0405
dave.woolridge@mi.mun.ca