Well, it's been quite a while since I've posted hasn't it? I guess I just took a little break. I have shot two matches since I've gotten back from Australia - both at Machias.

  On November 12th, I shot my 6BR in F-Class. I wanted to shoot my 6BR because I rarely get to shoot it. Plus, F-Class is really fun, and I used to shoot my .223 F-Class 'back in the day' when I started shooting in competitions. It was very fun to shoot something different, since I was just shooting my match rifle for 3 weeks in Australia.

  Anyway, I had a very good match. I shot my very first 600, with 45 X's! My 6BR was for sale, but I'm rethinking that right about now =). It is so much fun to shoot it, I don't know if I'll be able to sell it!

  Today, I shot another match at Machias, but with my match rifle. I only dropped 2 points for the day,(in my first string,) with a 198-10X. I had a 200-8X, and a 200-9X for my second and third strings. It was a very cold day, 24 degrees in the morning! It got up to about 35 degrees though. My fingers were so cold when I was shooting! It was hard to break perfect shots, since my fingers were frozen =). I didn't have as many points or X's as I wanted, but I haven't shot match rifle (in the cold) since January - February. A 598/600 isn't too bad, but I did learn a few things today, and that's always a plus =).

  We shot two U25 team matches in Australia, the Australia match (Australia's Long Range National Championships), and the U25 World Long Range Championships. We had two USA U25 teams competing:

USA Young Eagles Red:
Coach: Kyle Liebetrau
Captain: Andy Doney
Shooters: Trevor Massey, Waylon Burbach, Josh Lehn, Brianna Rachinski, Michael Storer

USA Young Eagles Blue:
Coach: Kelly Bachand
Captain: Vikki Gaddie
Shooters: Abraham Kamerman, Jenn Nyberg, Kyle Doney,
Brian Landwher, Emily Windmassinger

  USA Young Eagles Red won gold in both U25 team matches! In the Australia match, USA Young Eagles Blue placed 3rd. In the World Long Range Championship, USA Young Eagles Blue won silver.

  Here are a few collages from Australia. The first two are from the team & individual matches. The last two are from our 3 days off shooting. We went to Stradbroke Is., the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, the Australia Zoo, and the Sunshine Coast. At the Koala Sanctuary, I got to hold a koala! It was really cool! I also held a huge snake! I don't remember what kind it was, either a scrub python or an olive python. Either way, it was still really cool! At both the Koala Sanctuary and the Australia Zoo, I fed kangaroos and wallabys! They are so cute!

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Sunshine Coast & North Stradbroke Is.
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Australia Zoo & Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
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Camp Perry

   I went to Camp Perry this year with the goal to win the title of 2011 Junior National Champion. For weeks, I've been mentally preparing to win. I knew it was a big goal, but I was determined to make it.



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   On the first day of individual shooting, we shot two 20 shot matches at 1,000 yards. The wind wasn't too bad, but it was kinda switchy. After day one, I was in the lead for high junior by 5 points. The second day, we shot one 20 shot match at 1,000 yards. Everybody was shooting really good, I had some really tough competition! They only pushed  me to shoot better. I was very focused on achieving my goal, because once I set a goal, I expect myself to accomplish it. After the second day, I had a 9 point lead. The next day, I had an 11 point lead. Now, the only individual match left was the palma. I shot a 443/450. Waylon Burbach, who was right behind me for Junior National Champion, beat me in the plama with a 444/450. He did really good, and won high junior for the palma! I got high junior for the overall, and that was my goal. Like I said earlier, there was tough competition for high junior! I am the 2011 Junior National Champion. I achieved my goal!
   On day one, a couple of the juniors were on a bad relay. In every match besides that one, one junior was right behind me (by a point or two), or beat me by a point. All of the juniors were doing really good! I had a really good time shooting with them! I am looking forward to shooting with most of them again in New Mexico for the Spirit of America match in September.

Click on the following link for the overall match results:

2011 National Championship Results

In the results above, I am number 50 in the high master category.



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   On day two, there was a HUGE storm! In four hours, we had roughly 7 inches of rain! I was just finished pulling targets when it started to rain. There, it doesn't just rain like it does in Washington, it downpours! We were supposed to shoot one 20 shot individual match, then a team match. Everybody finished the individual. The team match got cancelled because of the downpour, thunder, and lightning. You couldn't even see the targets it was raining so hard!


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   On the way back from pulling targets, it started to rain harder, I got to see a water spout (pic above, when it was small) on the way back. Thankfully, it didn't touch ground. I ran to find somewhere to get out of the rain, but there was already about 4 inches of water (in about 10 minutes of raining) in the parking lot, so of course I got soaked. When we left the range, there were huge puddles of water, about 6 inches deep, all over the ready line! Some shooting gear was right in the middle of the puddles! Hey Anette, is your gear dry yet? Haha. All of my gear was fine, thankfully nothing got wet.





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In the collage above, the top middle picture is of my team at Perry. L-R: Taylor Grissom, me, Kyle Liebetrau (the coach), Kyle Doney, and Waylon Burbach.

Battle Of Machias

   Goals of the day: have fun, break perfect shots, and shoot a 600/600 with a good X count. I achieved two of those goals on Sunday, but the last one was pretty close, I shot a 599-35X! It was pretty foggy and drizzly for my first two strings of fire, but I shot a 200-10X and a 200-12X. My last string was a 199-13X. it was bright and sunny during my last string, but the wind was a little switchy. All three of those scores broke the 500 yard junior national record of 199-10X. I broke it last year, but the NRA hasn't recognised it yet. Hopefully they'll recognise my 200-12X!
   Usually, the Battle of Machias is after Camp Perry, at the end of August. This year, the match director decided to have it at the end of July instead.
  
   I'm just trying to shoot as much as I can to get ready for Camp Perry in August, Spirit of America in September, and the World Championships in October. One of the shooters was not able to go to the World Championships, and I was the 1st non-traveling alternate, so I was chosen to go. I am traveling as an alternate, but I might get to shoot if someone cannot. I am going to shoot the individuals also, but I'm focusing on the team shooting. The World Championships are held in Brisbane, Australia this year. I am super excited to travel with the Young Eagles. It has been my dream for 2 1/2 years, ever since I started shooting a match rifle.