Tourism, Culture and Recreation
September 5, 2012
The following is being distributed at the request of Sport Newfoundland and Labrador:
Rene De Haitre Wins Gold for Free-Pistol at Canadian Pistol Nationals in Calgary
Rene de Haitre (St, John’s) and Emma Meulenkamp (Portugal Cove) represented Newfoundland and Labrador at the 2012 Canadian National Pistol Championships in Calgary, Alberta. In recent years this province’s rifle shooters have been making names for themselves on the national stage, but this year two of our pistol shooters set out to test their metal. It has been about 10 years since we had representatives at the Pistol Nationals. Rene and Emma are graduates of the 2011 Canada Games program where Rene finished fifth and Emma captured a silver.
Rene fired both the men’s air pistol and free pistol events. Initially he was classed as an air pistol marksman but before the match was finished he insisted he be placed in the higher expert class. He finished sixth in class and 16th overall with a 1081 out of 1200. Ex-pat Mark Hynes, originally from Harbour Grace but now shooting for N.B., finished second overall with 1211.2 points after the finals.
Rene shot his first 50 metre free pistol match in the marksman class. Shooting a score of 992, he won the gold medal for his class and finished 12th overall. As a result of his score Rene will advance to the Sharpshooter class. Ex-pat Mark Hynes won the gold in expert class and finished 2nd overall.
Finally, Emma competed in the women’s 10-metre air pistol event. She fired 705 out of 800 to tie for eigth place in the International Junior class. To break the tie, officials counted the number of inner tens and Erin Beckett had fired more of them. This put Emma in ninth, just out of the finals.
The NLSA coaching group is pleased with our athlete’s performances. It is a big accomplishment to move from Canada Games into the nationals where athletes are vying for national team spots. We have a good feeling that Rene is about to surge ahead in free-pistol when he competes again at the 4th World University Shooting Championships in Kazan, Russia next week.
- 30 -
Media contact:
Dave Woolridge
778 0405
dave.woolridge@mi.mun.ca
2012 09 05 3:50 p.m.