CT: Mohegan Rifle League’s 2010 Annual Tournament

by Digby Hand

For nearly 80 years the Mohegan Rifle League has been the mainstay of smallbore rifle competition in southeastern Connecticut. Each year they gather for an annual tournament whose course of fire has evolved over the years but more recently has settled on shooting the National Rifle Association Four Position Sectional Course of fire.

This year’s contest, hosted by the Mystic Rod and Gun Club and ably run by Match Director Gerry Coleman and Range Officer Mark Sloan, turned out to be a battle between two old Titans of the league. Kent Lacey and Hap Rocketto shadow boxed with each other for 80 shots until one turned out the winner. The match results turned on two elements, equipment and training; had either one differed than the match results might well have changed.

The tournament opened in the prone position with the Larry Carter Trophy the prize. Steve Rocketto punched out 20 center shots, with four of higher value, to take the first stage by a single center shot. He was followed in a neat and orderly descending order by Hap Rocketto’s 19, Lacey’s 18, Shawn Carpenter’s 17, and Jenn Sloan’s 16.

Lacey jumped way ahead of the pack when he posted the only 200 in the sitting match to take the John Yetter Trophy. The two closest competitors to him were Hap Rocketto at 197 and Jenn Sloan with a 196.

The Bud Abbott Trophy is awarded to the winner of the kneeling match and it went to Carpenter who shot a near perfect 199X200. Lacey and Hap Rocketto tied with each shooting a 196.

The final match of the tournament was standing, with the Linwood Page Trophy going to the winner. Hap Rocketto, who had finished in second place in each match, needed a solid score to overcome Lacey’s three point lead. It was here that the two factors mentioned earlier came into play.

Rocketto had been muttering sotto voce all morning that, while his position and hold were good, his calls were just not quite on. As he prepped for standing he noticed that his scope mount either had been loose since the start or had loosened along the way. He quickly corrected the situation. As he had been shooting well, he won the Rhode Island NRA Four Position Sectional with a 796, two weeks earlier; his lack of attention to detail may have been responsible for his three point deficit.

Lacey, an equally excellent shooter, had not been able to shoot and train as he would have wished to in the run up to the match, yet he was shooting respectable scores and had the lead. It has been said, however, that if one does not train for a week the shooter will know, if you do not train for two weeks the competition will know.

The two were locked into a tight contest and the first stage of the standing match saw Rocketto shoot a 96 to Lacey’s 92. Perhaps it was the equipment. He had snatched the lead, at least for the time being, by a slim one point margin. Sloan and Carpenter were in the running with a 95 and 94 respectively. The second stage saw Lacey post a 97 to Rocketto’s 96. Perhaps the training effect from his first ten shots had kicked in. Sloan had a 91 and Carpenter a 95. Rocketto won standing with a 192 and Lacey was second with a 189.

After 80 rounds for record the match had come down to center shots. Lacey had more standing but Rocketto had a few more than Lacey in every other match for a total of 44 to Lacey’s 36. It was just about as close as a match might be and Rocketto took away the Mohegan Rifle League Trophy.

Eric Sloan, a sub junior, shot the adult match with iron sights and also a special 40 shot prone match. He won both.

Two man teams vied for the John Sullivan Trophy, a paper match made up of standing scores. The Katzenjammer Kids, Lacey and Carpenter won with a 378. Each member of the team had fired an identical 189.

The match concluded with a cold collation pot luck luncheon highlighted by tall tales of shooting prowess of days gone by.

You can download the complete results here: 2010-ct-mohegan-league (Excel, 41KB)