The 2010 Rhode Island NRA Metric Position Sectional
by Digby Hand
Nearly three dozen competitors converged on the Massasoit Gun Club for what they thought would be the 2010 Rhode Island NRA Three Position Sectional. In a period of change in the smallbore game they should have not been surprised to find that they actually were shooting the NRA Metric Position Sectional. The change would be no more than a case of semantics but for the fact that the NRA/USAS 50 target has replaced the old A-36 in this competition.
For many of the shooters it was their first look at the tougher target which has been a mainstay of collegiate and USA Shooting competition for some time. There is no such thing as “close enough” on the NRA/USAS 50, which is slightly smaller than the A-36. Scores have taken a bit of a dip because a bullet hole must obliterate the ten dot to earn the highest score. However, that didn’t seem to daunt anyone as they just tried harder.
The match started with 40 shots prone and of the 124 targets scored only eight were 100s, and two of those belonged to the prone match winner Hap Rocketto who opened with a pair of 99s and then parleyed them with a pair of cleans for the match winning score of 398-27. Hot on his heels was his former junior and now team mate Jenn Sloan who won the Expert class with a 395-17 just ahead of second Expert Alex Zadrozny’s 392-15.
Sharpshooter Kerry Lewis, who uses smallbore to keep her eye sharp for highpower, bested Mark Wujtewicz, of Quaker Hill, by a point 387-12 to 386-19. Nick Sautter, who just graduated from Grasso Tech and shot with their rifle team under Shawn Carpenter, was high Marksman with a 385-27. Hudson’s Mike Jylkka came in second shooting a 385-14 with Danni Makucevich, representing the Newport Club, firing a 380-11 for third.
It is often said that anyone can win a prone stage but position matches are won standing. Trying to overcome a less than satisfactory performance prone 2009 US Roberts Team member Kim Chrostowski lead the pack with a 372-7, fired with iron sights. Not giving her any breathing room Catherine Green was top Expert with a 371-5 and Megan Polonsky was right behind with a 369-5 for second Expert honors. Master Jessica Levine, while out of the money in the Master class, posted a third 369, hers with ten center shots.
Anthony “Too Tall” Squeglia broke into the money with a Sharpshooter class winning 354-3 and Jeff Caron picked up second in class with his 338-4. Sautter kept up the pressure among the Marksman by taking the class with a 354-5 to Martin MacKenzie’s second place 351-4 while Makucevich had her second third place finish with a 316.
With two of the three matches out of the way the leader board was shaping up as a real dogfight between two young iron sight shooters verses a pair of wily middle aged scope riflemen. Chrostowski held the lead with a 761. Behind her was her Roberts Team mate Rocketto at 753 just a whisker ahead of junior Brian Jylkka who had amassed 751 points with Erik Hoskins a bit further back at 746.
Kneeling would make or break the match. The first card saw Chrostowski give up a few of her hard earned points when she only managed a 92 to Rocketto’s 96, Jylkka’s 97, and a come from behind effort by Hoskins who shot a 98. Looking at the second target Chrostowski still held the lead by four points over Rocketto who was one in front of Jylkka and five ahead of Hoskins. With the second ten shot string Chrostowski’s lead evaporated when she could only muster a 90. Rocketto now was in the forefront with a 947 while Jylkka held on to second with 944 points, Hoskins still was mired in fourth with 20 shots to go.
The third string of kneeling saw things stay pretty much as they where. Chrostowski held on with a 93 to the other three, who all posted 94s. Ten shots to go and the match hung in the balance. The door was finally slammed shut on Chrostowski when she posted a 91. Her scores were consistent but just not high enough to overcome her prone deficient and points lost prone cannot be made up in the higher positions. Hoskins came through with a 97 to Rocketto and Jylkka’s 96s. The last target surge gave Hoskins the kneeling match, 384-13, by the slimmest of margins-four Xs. Rocketto dropped three points in his last two shots to end up with a 384-9. Jylkka was right behind with a 383-12.
In the Expert class Carpenter broke into the money with a 383-10 while Bob Lynn came in second when he posted a 371-9. Sharpshooter Joe Graf had a solid 375-6 to come out ahead of Squeglia’s 360-5. Sautter pulled off a hat trick by winning his third individual Expert match of the day shooting a 378-9, MacKenzie followed with a 365-6 and in third with a 364-7 was John Cialek.
The aggregate fell to Rocketto whose 1137-42 earned him the gold. Silver medalist Jylkka combined his three matches for an 1134-39 and Hoskins took home the bronze on the basis of his 1130-40.
Carpenter, Don Norris, Green and Polonsky had been going back and forth all day atop the Expert class. The men tied in prone with 391s and the girls were separated by a point at 385 and 384. While Polonsky and Green shot some of the best standing of the day Norris took Carpenter to school in standing opening an 18 point lead. But there was a change in fortune for Norris, Polonsky, and Green when Carpenter topped them all kneeling by 18, 27, and 26 points respectively. In the end all four shot an 1110! Carpenter had 30 center shots to Norris’ 29 while Polonsky poked out the center 22 times to Green’s 17. They hardly get any closer, and with a come from behind finish to boot: it was the most exciting contest of the day.
Squeglia had control of the Sharpshooter class after standing and held onto it handily with his 1096-21. Marksman standings were also fairly constant throughout the tournament. Sautter was never really challenged and neither was MacKenzie. However, Makucevich and Cialek battled it out all day with a strong kneeling, 364-7 bringing Cialek to the verge of slipping by Makucevich. In the end Makucevich held on to third by just thee centershots, 1051-13 to 1051-10.
Team competition saw six teams enter the paper match with Hudson Gold, Levine, Brian Jylkka, Polonsky, and Squeglia, winning with a combined score of 4458-112. In second place was Digby Hand Team Finney, Graf, Hoskins, Rocketto, and Sautter, who posted a 4456-143.
In the aftermath of the match there was some discussion as to what, if any, National Records might have been set because of the new target. With this match being the first of some dozen or so Metric Sectionals, the bulk being held in February and March, everything is open. In reality some of the scores shot this weekend will be superseded in the coming months so many of these shooters may earn National Records, be awarded a certificate, but never appear on the NRA website or on the printed record sheets sent out to match sponsors. Only time will tell.
While there are two other junior matches to be held at Massasoit this gallery season this was the last open match. Match Director Nicole Panko-who also provided the photograph for Hoskins and Rocketto for this article, Range Officer Brad Ellsworth, and Statistical Director Alyssa Mahan were ably assisted by Bob and Sarah Downing. Sarah, who is completing her senior year of nursing school at Salve Regina has been so consumed by her studies that shooting has been out of the question. She wanted to touch bases with her shooting cronies and so managed to cut out some time from her full schedule to help. She plans to return to the range on a regular basis after she graduates and completes her state boards in the spring.
All parties wish to thank the Massasoit Gun Club for its generosity. Hosting the winter match series is at some cost in both money and inconvenience to club members and the sacrifice for the good of shooting is appreciated by all who participate
