Rifle team prepares for opener

Published 10:42 pm Saturday, January 21, 2006

MOULTRIE — The high school season does not even begin until Thursday, but the Colquitt County precision air rifle team already has turned in a pair of outstanding performances this school year.

And the team’s coach, Gunnery Sgt. Emmett Bryant, said this year’s squad — again made up entirely of Marine Corps Junior ROTC cadets — has a chance to be the most successful in the program’s nine-year history.

In December, the team of seniors Vickie Dampier, Yohann Brinson and Jessica Corona and junior Shontae Robinson, combined to win the Gary Anderson Invitational, a top national competition that drew 22 teams.

In the process, Colquitt County defeated last year’s Georgia state high school champion, Northside of Columbus and scored 2,274 out of a possible 2,400 points.

And in the Marine Corps JROTC Air Rifle Postal Competition, the four-student team qualified for the Eastern Championships that will be held Feb. 9-11 at Fort Benning.

The winning and runner-up teams at the Eastern Championships will represent the Marine Corps at the JROTC Nationals, to be held March 23-26, also at Fort Benning.

Colquitt County placed eighth in the JROTC National Air Rifle Championships last year, with Brinson, Robinson and Victoria Dampier and her sister Miranda Dampier shooting. Corona, who was a Georgia High School Association All-Area shooter last year, was unable to compete in National Championships.

Of the 152 entries in the this year’s postal match, Victoria Dampier was one of three who shot a high score of 290 out of possible 300 points.

Because of the tiebreaker, she was tied for second. Logan Fox of Shelby County High in Bagdad, Ky., was first. Kent Wilcox, Fox’s teammate also shot a 290.

Robinson was 13th in the competition, with a 285, and Corona and Brinson were right behind, each with a 284.

Even the newest members of the team shot well. Joshua Taylor had a 258; Amanda Thompson, a 257; and Megan Dubberly, a 235.

Those shooters who turned in a score of 230 or better in the competition earned marksmanship badges.

Those early results from a team in which the top four shooters are veterans from last year’s team leads Bryant to believe it has a chance to be something special this year.

“They’ve done real well this year,” said Bryant, who has been the coach of the Colquitt County rifle teams since it started nine years ago. “This is the strongest team we’ve had.

“They are the most consistent.”

Colquitt County won seven of its 10 regular-season high school matches last season, finished fourth in the area and lost to Brunswick in a first-round state match.

Corona and Brinson were named to the All-Area first-team. Corona’s season average of 286.1 was third in the area. Brinson’s 283.8 was fourth.

Corona’s 94.2 in the standing, or off-hand, position was the best in the area.

To get ready for the 2006 high school season, which opens on Thursday when Colquitt County travels to Cordele to meet Crisp County, four team members took part in a camp at Griffin during the summer. The camp, which was paid for by the Packer Booster Club, helped his young shooters, said Bryant, who added that the athletic department also has helped fund the program.

“We get real good support from the school,” Bryant said.

But the biggest boost has come from the U.S. Marine Corps, which has purchased the team’s Anschutz air rifles, which cost more than $2,500 each.

“They are top of the line,” Bryant said. “The Marine Corps is treating us real well.”

The sport requires shooters to aim their air rifles at targets 30 meters away and fire in three positions: prone, standing and kneeling.

The Colquitt County team is open to any student, but the team has never had a member who was not part of the JROTC program. The sport requires patience and has little in common with duck or deer hunting or trap or skeet.

The team practices from 3:30-5:30 p.m. each day and is focusing on improving it’s scores in the off-hand position.

“They started early this year and its showing,” said Lt. Col. Paul Nagy, who heads the Colquitt County JROTC program. “The gunny really has the kids disciplined and trained.”