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

Provincial Shooting Team Clues Up Preparations for Canadian Air Gun Grand Prix

Shooters from across the Avalon and at two sites in New Brunswick competed in an Olympic styled air pistol and air rifle match. For Newfoundland and Labrador shooters this match was a continuation of the selection process for the 2010 junior team. As a result of this competition two of our juniors advanced in the classification system for air rifle.

With the overall best performance of any competitor, Brenda Greene took top shot in the women�s event shooting 382 out of 400. Samantha Marsh was both the top sharpshooter and junior women with a 367. Samantha�s score now qualifies her for the rank of expert. Amanda Smith of St. Stephen�s New Brunswick was top junior women�s marksman with her result of 301. Mount Pearl shooter, Meghan Harris, was second junior women�s marksman, after putting in a personal best of 280. Finishing the field was Cheryl Hearn of St. Catherine�s St. Mary�s Bay.

Shooting 560 out of 600, top senior men�s air rifle went to Dave Woolridge of St. John�s. First expert went to New Brunswick�s Blair Carson with a 511. Out shooting all the experts, junior sharpshooter, Ben Taylor took double gold both as a sharpshooter and top junior men�s air with his score of 543. As with Samantha, Ben�s score now promotes him to the expert class. Teammate Jason Harnum was second sharpshooter with 527, a 17 point lead of the nearest New Brunswick shooter. Yves Boudreau of Sackville, N.B., won the men�s marksman class with an 11 point lead on St. John�s native Dave Taylor. Finally, Jaret Richard, of New Brunswick, was the competition�s top wheel chair athlete, shooting a personal best of 511.

Finally, in the men�s air pistol, Tony Smith secured the top honours with 504 out of 600. Dave Taylor led the field of marksmen class shooters, taking the gold with a 492, up from last month. Richard Power, of St. Catherine�s, St. Mary�s Bay, was top in the junior men�s event with a 472.

In total 10 shooters from our province and eight from New Brunswick took part. For many on the Newfoundland team this match was a final test before competing on the Valentine�s weekend in Toronto, at the Canadian Air Gun Grand Prix. This Grand Prix is an international event open to all and attracting hundreds of aspiring Olympians from around the world. The team coach Gary Piercey, commented that this year�s training plan is on course as most shooters were up from their previous results.

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