The Four Corners Rifle and Pistol Club junior shooters hit their marks this year.
Cortez had three shooters place in the Montrose Small Bore Rifle tournament on Feb. 4-5. In the junior class (age 17-19), Ashley Lingo took match winner and also high woman, with a distinguished 500-41X out of a possible 500-50X, an astonishing once in a lifetime score. Jason Doyel banged out an impressive 489-26X, which gave him fourth-place. Elijah Winkles shot a fantastic 476-19X in the intermediate-junior class (14-16), but it was not quite enough to place out of the 18 shooters. In the largest class, sub-junior (10-13) with 22 shooters, Kayleen Bowie placed second with a remarkable 470-9X. Dani Olson and Kate Treinen both shot brilliantly with scores of 437-7X and 436-7X. Other Cortez shooters with excellent match results in the sub-junior class were Cody McKinney (353-2X), Chance Chaffin (353-1X) and Taylor Willbanks (332-2X). In the Tyro Class (9U), Tia Imel was met by a formidable opponent, a strong 402-7X slid her into second-place. In the team shoot, Cortez placed fourth, but there was only five points between first and fourth. As always, Montrose hosted an outstanding tournament.
The Four Corners Rifle and Pistol Club Junior Shooters hosted the annual Elzey Garland Memorial Jr. Shooting Competition March 3-4. A total of 54 shooters from three clubs participated. The Grand Valley Marksman from Grand Junction, the Montrose Rod and Gun Club and 23 competitors from the Cortez Junior Shooters. The participants in the competition are taught to shoot in four positions; prone, sitting, kneeling and standing. Although it takes a long time to master these positions, competitors only shoot in the positions they are most comfortable using. There were no age groups set in this match and they were divided into four categories. Category 1 shoots four prone targets. Category 2 shoots two prone targets and two sitting targets. Category 3 shoots one prone, one sitting and two kneeling targets. Category 4 shoots one prone, one kneeling, one sitting and one offhand standing target. There are 400 possible points in each category.
Category 4 had 14 competitors and four of those competitors were from the Cortez team. Lingo again took match winner and high woman with her superior score of 389-11X. Doyle was out of trophy consideration, but scored a 345-12X, Bowie was close behind with a 344-6X and Cole Crawford scored a 311-2X.
Category 3 had eight competitors and Cortez shooters won first and third in this category. Winkles took first-place with an impressive 352-8X and Imel was third with a notable score of 340-7X. Aarron Butler scored a 218-2X.
Category 2 had 12 shooters, which proved to be a tough group of competitors. Cortez did not place as a squad. The top three shooters from Cortez were Treinen with a 342-1X, which placed her in sixth. Chase Fury was close behind with a 338-1X and Bailey Duran with a 300-2X.
Category 1 had 13 shooters from Cortez and a total of 20 competitors. Caisey Duran placed first in this category with an impressive score of 359-3X. Chance Chaffin shot well with a 322-2X, which placed him in fourth and Cody McKinney shot a 322-0X, which placed him in fifth. Other shooters in Category 1 that shot for Cortez were, Isaac Fury, Taylor Willbanks, Joshua Crawford, Cael McHenry, Torey Duran, Jake Skinner, Brody McGrath, Brandon McKinney and Wyatt Gapp.
In the team shoot, Cortez finished first with a first rate score of 368-7X. Team members were Lingo, Doyel, Bowie and Winkles (each member shot a different position).
On March 10-11, the Cortez Junior Shooters competed in the Montrose Rod and Gun Club Junior Shooters Four Position Bore Rifle tournament.
Lingo had some intense competition in Category 4 and scored fourth-place at 377-16X.
Winkles had a terrific performance in Category 3 and brought home a second-place trophy with a score of 357-8X. Imel was close behind with a score of 346-7X, which placed her in fourth. Butler also competed in this category for Cortez.
Bailey Duran was the only shooter competing in Category 2 for the Cortez team. She placed fourth, but brought home the high woman trophy for this category.
Cortez had seven shooters compete in Category 1. They received first- and-second-place trophies. Chaffin had an exceptional shoot and received top honors with a score of 350-7X. McKinney had a close second-place finish and a worthy score of 349-1X. Caisey Duran scored a fourth-place finish and a score of 332-6X. Other Category 1 shooters were, Brody McGrath, Skinner, Willbanks and Torey Duran.
Willbanks also received the most improved award for the four position competitions, improving her score of 261-2X in the Elzey Garland Memorial Jr. Shooting Competition. Willbanks shot an inspiring 306-3X in the Montrose Rod and Gun Club tournament.
The Cortez Junior Shooters wrapped up their season with the Grand Valley Marksmen Western Slope Invitational. It was junior smallbore rifle prone and team matches in Grand Junction on April 14-15.
The divisions were broken into four categories at junior (17-19), intermediate junior (14-16), sub-junior (10-13), tyro (9U) and team competition, where each member of the team shoots a different position.
In junior, Lingo finished out her shooting career with an extraordinary 497-37X, which earned her the first-place trophy and high woman. She will be greatly missed by the Junior Shooters next season.
For intermediate, Winkles turned in a magnificent score of 485-21X that placed him just out of trophies.
In sub-junior, Cortez had a great turn out with seven shooters and Bowie had a brilliant performance to bring home the first-place trophy and a score of 491-31X. Caisey Duran placed third with an outstanding score of 474-20X. Other sub-junior shooters were Chaffin, McKinney, Bailey Duran, Willbanks and Skinner.
In tyro, Imel blew away the competition with a first-place win and a skillful score of 461-7X. Torey Duran received the third-place trophy with a score of 188-1X.
For the team shoot, Cortez received the award for highest out-of-town score. Team members include, Caisey Duran, Bowie, Winkles and Lingo.
Chaffin achieved the most improved award for the prone competitions. He improved his score of 353-1X in February at the Montrose Small Bore Rifle tournament to an amazing 457-10X in the Grand Valley Marksmen Western Slope Invitational.
The Junior Shooters are instructed by Cody Lingo, Travis Imel and Tim Hunter. The Junior Shooters had a very successful season.
The 2012-13 campaign will begin in the fall.