Carson High NJROTC hosts state marksmanship championship this weekend
Submitted by Brett Fisher on Fri, 01/27/2017 - 6:34pm
Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) programs from across the state are competing Friday and Saturday at the Carson High School Navy JROTC facility in Carson City.
CHS NJROTC instructor Dan Meyer, a retired Lt. Commander in the United States Navy, said holding the Northern Nevada State Marksmanship Championships at Carson High School is a departure from years past.
"It's normally held at the UNR range in Reno," he said.
But Meyer said the NJROTC facility at CHS has more shooting ranges than any other JROTC program facility in the region.
"They like us hosting because we have 16 ranges and we can shoot both ways," he said.
The CHS facility features individual ranges facing two target areas, allowing for more shooters at one time. This feature helps the meet move along more efficiently, Meyer said.
Meyer said the CHS Air Rifle Team qualified for the state meet this weekend by placing among the top two teams at last weekend's sectional competition.
He said Nevada's high school JROTC programs are now divided into three competitive sections, and the top two teams from each advance to the state finals.
A section is made up of anywhere from four to six schools, he said. A total of six teams throughout Nevada are competing this weekend in the state finals at Carson High School.
Each program is fielding a relay team of four shooters and one solo marksman, Meyer said.
The relays feature shooting in three different positions: prone (laying belly down), kneeling and standing.
Solo marksmen also must demonstrate proficiency in shooting from all three positions, Meyer said.
Marksmanship competition features the use of air rifles that fire pellets at a target from several yards away. Shooters are scored on where each pellet hits the target. The closer to the bulls-eye a pellet hits, the more points that are scored.
Following relay competition will be a finals shoot-off featuring the solo marksman from each program, Meyer said. These shooters are their team's top-scoring marksman.
They will compete Saturday for the Top Gun Award, a special distinction given to Northern Nevada's highest-scoring and most accurate marksman.
"It's a really cool and prestigious thing for the single shooter," Meyer said.
Marksmanship teams in Nevada shoot sporter style, Meyer said, which is less rigid that precision shooting that involves more gear.
Junior varsity (JV) marksmen shot on Friday, Meyer said, the first shoulder-to-shoulder competition of the season for the CHS JV marksmanship squad.
Normally, his JV team competes in postal shoots. These do not involve actual person-to-person meets between teams. Rather, each team records its scores separately at its respective range and mails the results in to select the overall winner.
Saturday is an all-day varsity competition, Meyer said, with the first relays starting at 8 a.m. Shooting runs until about 4 p.m., he said, followed by the awards ceremony.
The top three teams and individuals receive trophies for their efforts, Meyer said, including the three-highest scores in each shooting position.
Meyer advises that due to the layout of the CHS facility's shooting range, there is little room for spectators.
"Parents want to come watch their students shoot at state," he said. "But it's just hard to get spectators in here."
The range for this weekend's state championship meet is located inside the CHS Navy JROTC facility, located behind the high school on the south side and west of the bus yard. Access from the intersection of Robinson and Saliman streets.
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