Five St. Paul air rifle shooters came back from the Maple Leaf Air Open in Leduc on May 13 to 15 with several medals to recognize their accomplishment.
Jordon Sinclair won first in the men's division in the Olympic-style shooting competition. Mikayla Mailloux won silver in the ladies division and Tracee Whitford took bronze in the ladies division. Devon Bailey earned first in the junior men's category while Stuart Kotowich won second.
The competitors shoot standing up at a distance of 10 metres and try to hit a one millimeter dot in the centre of the target.
Coach Russ Whitford described the competition as the biggest of its kind in Western Canada. Whitford coaches the five shooters in a local air rifle club called the Eldorado Air Gun Club, which refers the a mythical city of gold, according to Wikipedia.
Shooters need to develop good habits to shoot consistently. The Eldorado club is sanctioned by the Shooting Federation of Canada and is a member of St. Paul and District Fish and Game Association.
The sport requires a lot of mind and body control, noted Whitford after getting back to St. Paul.
“When you're on the range and you're shooting you've got to be in the game 100 per cent, you can't be thinking about anything else," he said.
Training for the competitions require a lot of practice, he said, adding that standing position, trigger control, site alignment, and balance are key components to success at air rifle shooting. Whitford has been coaching air rifle since 1995.
The club will soon start preparing for the national championship in Calgary in August, and will host a nationally sanctioned match at the curling rink Sept. 16-18 with shooters from Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Whitford hopes the Leduc competition will become a grand prix, which would bring a lot of prestige to the sport and help it grow in Alberta.
Shooters can start training from the bench at the age of 10.
Anyone interested in joining the club or learning more can call Whitford at 645-5652.
