Taunton Rifle and Pistol held its 3P and Air Freedom Match on November 6th.
submitted by Kevin Winters
It was a crisp fall morning in which competitors from all over New England converged in Taunton at the Fall Freedom Match. The match consisted of a NRA Registered international 60 shot Air rifle competition and a NRA Registered 60 shot three position match all wrapped up in a day of shooting.
For the first time this completion was held as an open match and utilized both of Taunton Rifle and Pistol clubs indoor ranges.
The first shots were fired off at 9am start and right away the competition was tight.
In small bore Dan McCabe lead the prone with a 197 followed closely by the young MacKenzie Martin right behind him at 196, Brian Jylkka with a 195 was only 2 behind the leader. The offhand was also a nail biter with Dan shooting a 178 and Kenzie moving up to tie with a 179 but Brian was only 5 points behind the two. The kneeling is what settled the score for them Dan had a tough first target that set him behind going into his final target but came on strong on his final bringing his total to a 555 for a first place in the Open category but he battle was still on with Kenzie and Brian. Brian had a pair of solid 96 kneeling targets leaving him with a solid score of 562 and it was enough for a 2nd overall. Kenzie was prepared for battle though and she hit hard on her first kneeling giving away only one point and following it up with a very solid 96 bringing her total to a 570 Winning the match and breaking a Sub-Junior National record she set earlier in the year.
The Air rifle also had a huge battle between 17 competitors. MacKenzie Martin was still ready for battle along with Alexis Nardone and Megan Polonsky. The battle started with the first strike of Alexis with a 190 on her first set of targets but only two points behind her was Megan and Kenzie. Round two brought the battle a little closer with Megan pulling up to tie Alexis at 381 with Kenzie nipping a point behind going into final battle. Alexis had a strong hit finishing at 565 enough for third place. Kenzie and Megan also hit very strong on their last set of targets separated only by a point going into the last set. Both Kenzie and Megan shot equal scores on the last set of targets making Kenzie the 2nd at 571 and Megan 1st place in Air with a 572.
Although there were many other category battles the match went well with many thanks to all the competitors and all the people behind the scenes that helped make it all happen. Also to thank the Taunton Rifle and Pistol Club for letting us use the wonderful ranges to run the matches.
Complete results can be downloaded here: 2010-ma-freedom-11 (PDF, 12KB)
