Today was the final day of the F-class national championship for 2008. It was once again 1000-yard day and, as it turned out, it was almost a repeat in all aspects of Friday. Weather was almost exactly the same, as were the scores.
In F-open competition Charles Ballard continued his climb in the standings firing high score for the day posting a 446-20x. This was 2 points better than his next closest competitor: Mike Downey posted a 444-21x and Larry Bartholome 444-16x.
F-T/R competition showed Danny Biggs with a day’s aggregate of 437-18x followed by Dale Rathwell at 433-10x and Darrell Buell at 433-8x.
All firing was complete by 3:40pm. Scorecards were turned in and now it was up to the Stat office to give us the final results. The Winnaquah Gun Club hosted a bar-b-que dinner for all competitors and guests Saturday evening beginning at 6:30 in their indoor range and clubhouse facility. Approximately 120 people came for dinner. We started off the evening with a short competitor’s meeting and then the club started serving dinner at exactly 6:30pm.
Following dinner began the awards ceremony. NRA President John Sigler delivered an eloquent speech and Jan Raab, National Manager of NRA’s High Power Rifle Programs, also said a few words. The speakers thanked the competitors for their participation and thanking Winnaquah Gun Club for putting on such a great national match. The prime movers in planning and running the matches were Earl Liebetrau and his wife Karin. Karin had the hardest job of the tournament: that of Statistical Officer. She did a great job and is to be commended for a job well done.
I had previously reported most of the winners; however, the awards started out with squadded practice which was Tuesday. Aggregate award plaques were given for F-open and F-T/R with special plaques for the 1200-yard match provided by the Wisconsin Rifle and Pistol Association.
Awards for Wednesday’s firing were team medallions consisting of Bronze, third; silver, second; and Gold, third. Next came the trophies and medals for the “Europe USA Challenge Match.” As previously reported Teams USA, F-Open and F-T/R, were the winners against Team Europe. Gold medals were awarded Team USA and Silver medals were awarded Team Europe. Team Europe provided the “Farquharson Trophy” awarded to Team USA F-Open and the USA provided the “J.J. Conway Trophy” awarded to Team USA F-T/R.
Next were the individual awards. Medallions were awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd for the 600 and 1000-yard daily aggregates. Recapping, Bob Bock (F-Open) and Danny Biggs (F-T/R) were the 600-yard winners. Friday’s 1000-yard aggregate winners were Charles Ballard (F-Open) and Danny Biggs (F-T/R). On Saturday Charles Ballard was once again high for the day as was Danny Biggs. Plaques were awarded to the High F-Open and F-T/R Senior/Grand Senior. A special plaque was also provided by NRA and awarded to the High International Shooter.
Final awards of the evening were the National Champion Medallions. Our own NRA President, John Sigler, presented these to the winners. In the F-T/R category a bronze medallion was awarded to Darrell Buell whose final score was 1299-26x. A silver medallion went to Dale Rathwell, grand aggregate score of 1300-38x. The National F-T/R Champion for 2008 was none other than Danny Biggs posting a final score of 1305-42xs. He was awarded a Gold National Champion Medallion and the Sierra Trophy.
The last awards of the night were the F-Open National Champion Medallions. President Sigler presented a bronze medallion for third place overall to Larry Bartholome, score 1332-62x. Next came Mike Downey winning a silver medallion and scoring 1333-55x. Final award for the tournament was Charles Ballard of Mebane, North Carolina, posting a great score of 1337-65x and also winning the Precision Trophy. [Charles’ score was also a new national record for this course of fire in the national matches. At a later date he will receive a national record certificate from the NRA.]
All 117 competitors enjoyed the championships. Many lasting friendships were made from Great Britain, Ireland, and the USA. Camp Perry is always exciting but the atmosphere of a smaller range, smaller crowd and country setting only adds to the camaraderie felt by all those in attendance.
I personally enjoyed myself and didn’t fire a single round. Those who didn’t attend missed a great event. Perhaps next year — plan on it!
*Photos courtesy of Mr. Walters.
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See You All At Bisley In 2009 !
Always A Friendly Welcome
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