Special to The Nugget by James Wright ————— The Lumpkin County High School Rifle Team competed in the GHSA State Championships on March 14 and 15th at the Ware County Shooting Sports Complex in Waycross. Only 17 teams out of 109 make it to the competition. Athletes can compete if they shoot an individual qualifying score of 292, even if their team does not make it to the final level. The competition involves 20 shots in each of the three positions of kneeling, prone, and standing for a total of 60 shots and a possible top score of 600. The match is often referred to as a 3-position 3x20. There were over 85 athletes competing.
The process begins with only the top six teams from each of the 10 Areas advancing to the first elimination round, a total of 60 teams in the Sectionals. Upon completion of the sectionals, 30 teams advance to the next level called the Semi-Finals. After the elimination of half the teams, the remaining 15 teams and the two teams with the highest score advance to the Championship for the 17 competing teams.
On the first day all competitors must go through an inspection process of all suits, rifles, kneeling rolls, prone mats and gloves. Their suits are inspected for size and tightness. The suits cannot be tighter than a designated amount to ensure they are not providing the athlete too much support. The rifles are weighed and measured for length as well as inspected for unauthorized attachments. After passing inspection, individuals are provided one hour of practice time in any position of their choice.
Day Two consists of the competition phase. Members of each team are divided between three relays with those that qualified as individuals, and not attending with a team, mixed into the relays. Lumpkin’s team was divided with Senior Eliza Phillips (573) and Junior Bryn Foster (583). Following the first relay, Foster sat at the top with her score of 583. Junior James “JT” Wright (588) and Junior Joey Dechant (539) competed in the second relay and continued Lumpkin’s success and shot a new personal record (PR). Wright’s finishing score of 588 placed him in first and Foster in second. This was Dechant’s first appearance in the Championships.
Sophomore Liam Kearney (549) competed in the third relay and improved by 30 points from last year. The top four individual scores of each team are calculated and used to determine the team’s rankings. Lumpkin County finished the competition portion as the third-place finishers.
Following the third relay, the eight finalists were announced. The top eight athletes from all competitors advance to the finals. Wright advanced as the second highest athlete and Foster as the third highest amongst the top eight. The finals begin with all competitors on the same level of no score. The finals match involves all three positions with three 5 shot series in kneeling, three 5 shot series in prone, two 5 shot standing series and five single elimination shots.
Upon completion of the finals match, Foster achieved the bronze as the third-place finisher and Wright finished in seventh.
The awards ceremony was filled with Lumpkin County having at least one team member present in each presentation. The LCHS Rifle Team took the podium to receive their third-place trophy and medals. Next Bryn Foster took the podium as the individual third place finisher.
GHSA then recognized the top state Junior Olympic Qualifier finishers. The women’s medals were presented first, with Foster receiving the bronze for the State of Georgia U18 Air Rifle qualifiers. Wright then took the podium to receive his first-place gold medal for the U18 Men’s Air Rifle qualifiers and the first-place gold medal for the U18 Smallbore Rifle qualifiers. Lastly, Foster was presented with her plaque for being a member of the Georgia All-State team based on her season score average.
The team’s success brings excitement for next year’s season. Phillips is the only senior on this year’s team. With Wright and Foster’s continual presence at the top of the finishers and Dechant and Kearney’s growth this season, there is a great chance of a return trip to the State Championships.
