Champion shooters: Whidbey team claims national title
Published 2:56 pm Thursday, July 2, 2015
The title “national champions” has a nice ring to it, especially on this Fourth of July weekend.
S-cubed, a 10-meter air rifle team from Whidbey Island, won the Civilian Marksmanship Program championship in the sporter class June 27 in Anniston, Ala.
In addition to winning the overall CMP title, S-Cubed won the club division and finished 13th overall in the U.S. Junior Olympic championships the previous day.
S-cubed, coached by Dave Goodman, won the CMP title with a record score, posting a 2,212-76 (76 refers to the number of bull’s-eyes) out of a possible 2,400-240. Lebanon, Ore., was a distant second at 2,194-86.
Team captain Colton Baumgardner helped S-cubed set the national mark by earning his own national individual record, firing a 199-16 in the prone position and missing a perfect score by less than two millimeters on his final shot.
Baumgardner finished second in the overall individual standings, while Hailey Hahn placed fourth, Austin McBride seventh and Abigail Holt 52nd.
“It was a bit of a raincloud on the first day of matches,” Holt said, “but it rained a bit of sunshine on everyone the second day.”
S-cubed also had four other shooters qualify as individuals: Micah Moss and Mia Gehrmann from Oak Harbor and Ashley Wilkins and John House from Snohomish.
House, however, couldn’t make the trip because of a family commitment.
Goodman coaches both the Oak Harbor and Snohomish High School ROTC rifle teams.
Another S-cubed member, Mara Rouse, moved up a class from sporter to precision and competed several days earlier. She took home a pair of silver medals in her division, Goodman said.
Each day’s competition included 20 shots from 10 meters in the prone, standing and kneeling positions. The top eight shooters were given 10 more shots in the standing position to determine the final individual rankings.
Goodman wanted no part of the credit for the team’s efforts, deflecting all of the praise to his shooters.
“It was surreal to watch the last five shots of each of our shooters,” he said. “I knew the score we had to beat, and with several shots left I knew we had won the national title.
“When the pressure was on, these young shooters rose to the occasion and left it all on the firing line. I could not be more proud of them.”
S-cubed, which finished 20th last year, “came out of nowhere,” Goodman said, to take the title, stunning traditional powerhouses Lebanon; Gulfport, Miss.; Zion Benton, Ill; and Aurora, Ill.
S-cubed, which is based of out the Central Whidbey Sportsmen’s Association range, finished first in the club class and third overall at the regional tournament in Salt Lake City in April after winning its third straight Washington state crown in January.
During the school year and competing for the Oak Harbor High School NJTOTC team, the shooters placed second in the ROTC regionals and 14th (third among Navy teams) at the national finals.
Why is the team called S-cubed?
“You will have to join the team to find out,” Goodman said.
National champions sounds just fine for now.
