Shooting
North Island Secondary Schools Clay Target Shooting Competition - July 2012
During the first weekend of the term break the Clay target shooting team competed in the NISS championship.
In the opening individual Single Rise event Anthony Simpson got the team off to a very positive start shooting the possible 20/20 with Sean Collinson-Smith dropping only one target on his way to scoring a very creditable 19/20. Anthony now would progress on the shoot offs later in the afternoon.
The second event was the individual and Team Point’s competition. Liam Buchanan led the way with an excellent 59 from a possible 60 and with Sean Collinson-Smith scoring 56, Anthony Simpson 53 and Fransois Eksteen 51, the team had set themselves up with a respectable and competitive score. Liam’s score would mean he advanced through to the shoot offs and the team’s overall score of 266 gave us a chance at the medals. When all the team’s scores were finally posted we were placed a very creditable 5th with only 3 points separating 2nd and 5th positions.
Sean Collinson-Smith came to the fore in the last event of the morning scoring a possible 10/10 in the Single Barrel event with Anthony Simpson completing a good morning’s work scoring a solid 9/10.
The afternoon shoot offs began with the Skeet event. Liam Buchanan who was our only entrant in this discipline gained a 5= placing.
Anthony Simpson, shooting in a large field of competitors showed great determination and composure to gain our first medal of the day winning Bronze in the Single Rise. Unfortunately Sean Collinson-Smith just missed out on a medal in the Single Barrel but gained a very well deserved 4th place in the event.
In the final event of the day Liam Buchanan quickly exerted his dominance, putting the other competitors under early pressure in the shoot off for the individual Points title. In the end it was a quick and decisive win to Liam who took the Gold Medal and HOA in this event. Well done Liam!
The team can be very pleased with these results. Even though the team will need to be reconstructed with the loss of both Henry Wills and Jonathon Simpson to Tihoi, these results will give us a lot of confidence in the lead up to the NZ Nationals in Christchurch later in the year.
Putaruru Shoot - 14 June 2012
On Thursday the Shooting team headed to Putaruru for another annual inter school shoot. Conditions were fine but cold at first with little wind and good visibility. The first event was single rise. We struggled off the mark with no one shooting the possible 20 from 20 targets. Our top scores were Anthony Simpson, and Liam Buchanan on 19/20.
The second round was the points score. This was the most important round as it counted for the individual trophy and the team’s event as well. We struggled from the first target. The team lacked rhythm and was not relaxed. As a result seconds shots and lost targets were prevalent during the round. Jonathan Simpson top scored with a very solid 57 from 60 but after this the scores rapidly fell. Our team score was a rather poor 261/300 which amazingly, was good enough for another fourth place, showing that all the other teams also struggled in what seemed like perfect conditions.
We then went immediately into the single barrel due to time constraints. This counted only for the individual placing. Liam Buchanan was top scorer on 10/10 with Jonathan Simpson and Sean Collinson-Smith following close behind with 9/10.
Our teams top score for the day was Jonathan Simpson with 83/90.
Highlights were Hunter Johnson winning the top year nine score of the day despite having to shoot with a borrowed gun due to mechanical issues, and Max Mitchell-Clifford second in the year nine age group by one point.
We definitely have a lot to work on in the coming weeks before North Islands but some of our juniors are showing promise with solid consistent shooting which boasts well for later years.