LEWISBURG W.Va. (WVDN) – Editor’s Note: This article is a first-person perspective from one of the participants, Emma Kinkaid.
The Greenbrier East High School Air Rifle Team traveled to North Carolina on Sept. 27. After traveling for four hours to get to the school, we were all pretty tired. When we got to the range, we set up our kneeling targets. We were a little nervous but also very confident in ourselves for our first match of the year. Before we start to shoot, we pray for a good match and a safe ride home. After we shoot in the kneeling position, we move on to shooting the prone targets. We all flew right through them; everyone was doing great. Then, after the 5-minute setup time, it was time to shoot the standing targets (everyone’s worst nightmare). They set the shoot time for 25 minutes then said, ‘You may load and start.’
Then everyone brought their rifles up to the firing line, loaded and took a deep breath to shoot the first target. When the timer went off, they let us go down range to get our targets. By this time everyone is stressed out about what score they got. After all the people on the range get their targets, the school that hosted the match scores them. Some teams are already leaving, but GEHS stays and waits for the scores. Some people are very disappointed about the scores they received, but after all, it was just the first match. Some people shot a new personal best and were very excited about their scores. On the ride back home, we all talked about how we did and what we could’ve done to improve our scores, but like always, Major Pickenpaugh was very proud of us. On the way home, we stopped, had ice cream and made our way back to West Virginia. Overall, it was a great way to start off the rifle season here at GEHS.
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