Tourism, Culture and Recreation
January 25, 2011
The following is being distributed at the request of Sport Newfoundland and Labrador:
Team NL Takes Seven Medals at Canadian Air Gun Grand Prix
After three days of training and competition, January 21-23, 10 Newfoundland and Labrador athletes finished shooting the 29th Canadian Air Gun Grand Prix in Toronto, netting seven medals and numerous personal accomplishments. This competition marks the final check for many of them before the Canada Winter Games next month.
In the Men’s Rifle events, Ben Taylor narrowed the gap with Joshua Akow of Ontario to claim the silver medal in the Expert class. Ben was only one point out from the finals leaving him in 9th place overall. Jason Harnum held on to his lead in the Sharpshooter class to secure the gold, thereby leaving Dave Ficken with the silver.
In Men’s Air Pistol, Rene Dehaitres improved upon his Saturday result to take the silver medal in the Men’s International Junior Air Pistol. Finally, team coach and athlete Anthony Smith tied for silver in the Men’s Sharpshooter Air Pistol event. However, after the tie-breaking rules were applied, he was ranked third and awarded the bronze medal.
In Women’s Air Pistol, Emma Meulenkamp was second place at the start of the day in the International Junior Air Pistol event. Though she performed about as well as on Saturday, she was overtaken but still was able to claim the bronze medal. More remarkable is that this was only Emma’s second out-of-province competition and that she was able to shoot the 5th highest qualifying score, and thus earned a place in the finals. This is a huge accomplishment for a shooter who came to the sport in February of last year. After the finals were over Emma was ranked 5th overall. Teammate Alyssa Sparkes improved upon her Saturday match to place 4th in the Sub-Junior category.
Finally, in Women’s Rifle, Brenda Greene won the gold medal in the Women’s Expert class. Samantha Marsh and Meghan Harris came in 4th and 6th in the Sub-Junior category. Meghan fired a personal best on Saturday and then bettered that score on Sunday by two points.
All these athletes train out of the Frank Zahn High Performance Marksmanship and CSCA Training Facility in the School of Human Kinetics and Recreation of Memorial University.
Results Summary:
Men’s Rifle | Class | Score (1200) | Place |
Ben Taylor | EX | 1134 | Silver |
Jason Harnum | SS | 1102 | Gold |
Dave Ficken | SS | 1091 | Silver |
Women’s Rifle | Class | Score (800) | Place |
Brenda Green | EX | 760 | Gold |
Samantha Marsh | SJ | 731 | 4th |
Meghan Harris | SJ | 724 | 6th |
Men’s Pistol | Class | Score (1200) | Place |
Anthony Smith (Coach) | SS | 1066 | Bronze (after count back) |
Rene Dehaitres | IJ | 1060 | Silver |
Women’s Pistol | Class | Score (800) | Place |
Emma Meulenkamp | IJ | 709 | Bronze, IJ and 5th overall |
Alyssa Sparkes | SJ | 662 | 4th |
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Media contact:
Dave Woolridge
President
Newfoundland and Labrador Shooting Association
709-778-0405
dave.woolridge@mi.mun.ca
2011 01 25 2:00 p.m.