S-Cubed, a team of Oak Harbor High School shooters, won the Western Washington Junior Olympic Air Rifle Championship Feb. 5 and own the inside track to capturing the state championship.
Eastern Washington shooters compete Feb. 12 and their scores will be included to determine the overall champion.
“Historically, our sporter team has beaten the teams shooting in Spokane every time we have competed with them — four years in a row. I expect that will be the case again this year judging by the score we posted,” S-Cubed coach Dave Goodman said.
The Western Washington competition was also a qualifier for the regional and national Civilian Marksmanship Program and Junior Olympic tournaments.
The S-Cubed sporter team earned a spot in the regional and national competition by shooting a 2,075, which surpassed the qualifying standard of 2,025.
In addition, several club members met the qualifying marks for the individual competition.
The S-Cubed’s precision team also appears to be heading to the national finals.
Precision teams have until Feb. 10 to post scores, but S-Cubed’s postal score from two weeks ago should earn a national berth, Goodman said.
The precision rifle is a step up from sporter and is used in collegiate and international competition.
Not only did S-Cubed record the highest Western Washington score, Steven Richards led in the individual standings with a score of 530-10, and Jason Montano took third (528-13). Both received automatic invitations to the regional and national tournaments.
The other shooters all finished among the top 20: Lauren Crossley, fifth, 521-13; Ryan Quiros, seventh, 500-8; Jaelyn O’Hara, 11th, 481-13; Isaac Gomez, 13th, 473-5; Cierra Legendre, 17th, 469-3; and Noah Miller, 19th, 443-7.
Montano, Crossley, Quiros, O’Hara and Gomez all shot personal bests.
In the precision competition, Elena Flake was third (585-34) and qualified for regional and national competition. Julia Flake placed 20th (558-15).
The regional tournament is April 6-8 in Salt Lake City. Nationals is June 21-23 for sporter and June 24-26 for precision at Camp Perry in Ohio.
