submitted by James Lee
Maspenock Junior Rifle League March 2014 Match results and final indoor results.
The final matches of Maspenock junior Rifle League were held Saturday March 8’th at Harvard and Southborough. – Harvard hosted Maspenock and Marlborough and Southborough hosted Holliston, Riverside and Maynard. Remaining in the season for these competitors is an outdoor match at Harvard March 29th and the awards banquet at Maynard April 12th.
The final team rankings are:
First Place: Marlborough 3780.
Second Place: Southborough 3574.
Third Place: Harvard 3512.
Followed by Maspenock, Maynard, Holliston and Riverside.
The first place team of Marlborough is coached by head coach Mark Tessier, with the help of coaches Vinnie Amatucci, Bobbi Cintolo, Rick Currier & James Lee. It’s only Marlborough’s third season as part of the league, so congratulations on the quick rise for Mark, his team and his coaches. Mark employed a strategy of getting as many competitors to every match as possible. The top four scores at each match count for the team. The more competitors at a match the better chances for high scores. The heavy hitters for Marlborough were A.J. Carmody with a season total of 1016, Colton Valchuis 931, Gianna Ferrecchia 907 and Bradley Smith 882. Paul Ferrecchia with a total of 870 edged out Bradley Smith in two of the matches having his score count for the team.
The second place Southborough team is coached by Mark Monique. His lead scorers are Abby Monique 1072, John Renzoni 862, Beau Mumford 830 and Brett LeBow 778. Joel Gardner 768, was in the best 4 for three of the matches contributing 24 points to the team total.
The third place Harvard team is coached by Don Miller with 4 assistant coaches. Colleen O’Shea Leads the team with 974 followed by Nick Pelrine 868, Mary Anne Anderson 850 and Haley Dickenson 772. Griffin Millette and Wyatt Moberg each had scores contributing to their team total.
It’s important for each team to have many competitors at each match since one of the team leaders may have an off day, miss a competition due to a scheduling conflict or an up and coming team member may have a great day and take one of the top for scores for their team for the day.
Along with the three position scores fired by the intermediate and advanced shooters on each team, there are beginning competitors who fire only in the prone position. Some have fired prone all season, some have advanced from prone during the season to three-position and some have just fired their first ever prone match on the final match.
Competitors who advanced from prone only to three positions during the season were Ethan Starbard of Southborough, John Sharkey of Holliston, Luke Philips of Harvard, Christian Szretter, Devan Szretter, Ben Plucinski and Nina Eisenhofer of Riverside.
The competitors firing their first ever match in the league in March were: Matt Young of Maspenock, Bradley Bigelow and Kai Nowers of Harvard and Chris Cousineau of Maynard.
In total, there were 55 competitors at this match, with a total of 68 throughout the season from the 7 teams from Harvard Sportsman Association, Holliston Sportsmen’s Association, Marlborough Fish and Game, Maspenock Rod and Gun Club (Milford, MA), Maynard Rod and Gun, Riverside Gun Club (Hudson, MA) and Southborough Rod and Gun Club making for a great end to the indoor competition season.
For individual scores, the top performers in three-position were Abby Monique of Southborough (282), Chris Milliken of Maspenock (263), A.J. Carmody of Marlborough (251) and Colleen O’Shea of Harvard (245). As these competitors work through the marksmanship program, they must score a 230, 240, and 250 or better in matches to achieve their expert qualification. These top competitors have either achieved or are close to achieving their expert ranking.
The top individual scores in the prone only competition were Christopher Thomas of Maynard (251), Katie Aiken (246), Alex Clark (244) and Matt Young (230) all of Maspenock. Next season these shooters will likely advance to three-position.
The awards banquet will be held April 12’th at Maynard, contact any of the teams to attend and learn more about the league and see the many awards which were won by the hard working competitors in the league.
Each of the teams is funded in part by the local program fees, generous sponsorship from their local club, and grants from the Friends of the NRA and NRA foundation. Please consider supporting your local club or supporting the friends of the NRA by participating in one of their dinners or raffles. Without your support, this league would not be possible.
If you would like to learn more about the teams and the league consider attending the March 29 outdoor match at Harvard or the Banquet on April 12th or contact any of the teams in the league. If your club has a junior rifle program and you would like to join the league or you are trying to start a team, contact any of the teams in the league and we will help.
Many thanks go out to the head coaches of the teams, the assistant coaches and particularly the parent volunteers who kept the coaches, competitors and spectators fed at the clubs.
