Oak Harbor, again, places among best in region / Air rifle

By Jim Waller • April 12, 2018 1:30 am
Lauren Crossley, shown here shooting in a JROTC match earlier this school year, placed eighth at the regional match in Utah last weekend. (Photo by John Fisken)
Lauren Crossley, shown here shooting in a JROTC match earlier this school year, placed eighth at the regional match in Utah last weekend. (Photo by John Fisken)

Oak Harbor shooters added to an already long list of accomplishments by producing a strong showing at the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s Western Regional Tournament April 5-7 in Sandy, Utah.

Year after year, the local teams — whether the Oak Harbor High School’s NJROTC squad, S-Cubed or the Sabertooth Shooting Squad — coached by Dave Goodman finish among the best in the country.

This time, the Sabertooth Shooting Squad precision air rifle team placed third and the sporter air rifle team 11th in the 17-state Western Regional.

The two Oak Harbor teams are on pace to qualify for the national championships June 21-26 in Anniston, Alabama.

Goodman said half of his shooters posted personal bests at the regional tournament.

“It is amazing to think of how well we did,” Goodman said. “Out of the thousands of shooters who tried to make this match, we got to go. Not only that, but all of our shooters ended up in the top 100.

“With as many shooters returning next year as we have, there is a real possibility of winning both sporter and precision and putting many of our shooters in the final eight.”

Four of Oak Harbor’s five precision shooters produced personal records at this year’s regional.

Lauren Crossley finished eighth out of 53 in the individual standings with a PR 582-35, including a 91.4-0 in the final eight.

James Hart, competing in his first national match, placed 15th with a PR 573-32. Jaelyn O’Hara (17th, 570-28) and Cierra LeGendre (20th, 570-29) also PR’ed. Isaac Gomez took 39th (551-23).

The Oak Harbor sporter team was led by Rylan Quiros, who took 29th out of 102.

Joshua Odeneal (37th, PR 528-17), Dylan Sanchez (53rd, 514-12), Ivan Snyder (57th, 511-05) and Trevor Westmann (72nd, 504-11) were all competing in their first national meet.

Goodman is seeking more shooters to keep the Oak Harbor powerhouse running.

“We are now looking at shooters not attached to NJROTC and not yet in high school,” he said. “Any athlete or family that is interested in finding out more can contact me at 360-678-1602.”