Tourism, Culture and Recreation
May 7, 2014
The following is being distributed at the request of Sport Newfoundland and Labrador:
Province Captures Six Medals at 2014 North Atlantic Air Gun Championships
This past weekend, six competitors from the province participated in the 2014 North Atlantic Air Gun Championships in St. Stephen’s, New Brunswick. The North Atlantic Air Gun Championships are held annually, alternating among Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick as the host province.
A total of six medals were won by Team Newfoundland and Labrador, including the Grand Championship in Women’s Air Pistol claimed by Margaret Coady, and the Grand Championship in Men’s Olympic Air Rifle won by David Woolridge.
Ms. Coady dominated the Women’s Air Pistol shooting a personal best on her opening relay, and then smashing past that mark by 20 points on her second qualifying relay. She finished with 187.4, 0.9 of a point ahead of the highest scoring male competitor and 13.1 points ahead of the nearest female competitor. Mr. Woolridge has won this event several times throughout the history of this competition, and a Newfoundlander and Labradorian has claimed this title five out of the six times since the competition’s inception.
Following the competition Coach Woolridge said that he was pleased with the performance of the Newfoundland and Labrador Junior Team.
“Margaret has made a major step forward, and it looks as though we can expect similar results from the others any time now,” said Mr. Woolridge. “We are starting to see the elements of training gelling in competition.”
William Dalton was the only other Newfoundland and Labrador medalist. He was third after the men’s air rifle qualifying rounds and advanced to a silver medal overall by the end of the finals, only 3.1 points behind Mr. Woolridge.
Other provincial members also placed well with Martin Dimitrov finishing fifth in the qualifying round and fourth after finals in the Men’s Pistol event. Tim Rozee, who recently switched from rifle to pistol, fired his first pistol match to finish sixth overall. The training group’s newest member, Hayley Barrett, scored 743.3 in the qualifying round to finish eighth in the Women’s Rifle event. This was her second competition since taking up the sport in the fall and she performed very close to the levels she attained at this year’s provincial air gun championships.
“I wish to congratulate Team Newfoundland and Labrador for their fine showing in this competition. Undoubtedly, the association would not be in a position to train and equip our group without the continued support and encouragement of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and Sport Newfoundland and Labrador,” said Newfoundland and Labrador Shooting Association President David Taylor. “Our team is on course to send a full complement of air rifle and air pistol athletes to the upcoming 2015 Canada Winter Games.”
The air gun championships were founded in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2009 as a joint project between the Atlantic provinces to prepare Atlantic Canadian target shooting athletes for the Canada Winter Games. Currently, Olympic 10-metre (air) rifle and pistol are shot at the Canada Winter Games. All but one of the Team Newfoundland and Labrador competitors are members of the 2015 Canada Winter Games Training Group, the exception being the training group’s coach, David Woolridge, who himself has competed both nationally and internationally.
The Canada Winter Games Training Group is managed under the auspices of the Newfoundland and Labrador Shooting Association, the provincial affiliate of the Shooting Federation of Canada, the national sports organization for Olympic and International shooting sports in Canada.
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Media contact:
David Taylor
Newfoundland and Labrador Shooting Association
NLShootAssociation@gmail.com
Facebook: NL Shooting Association
2014 05 07 3:30 p.m.