The majority of the High Performance Rifle Squad made the trip to the Isle of Man for the annual Easter Festival taking place over 14 – 16 April 2017. Registered as a British Shooting selection event for both 10m and 50m Rifle, the Air Rifle events were conducted on electronic targets for the first time with the assistance of STS, with Gavin Walker driving a van-load of our Megalink units over and running the range for the two days of the Air Rifle and Air Pistol events.
In the Women’s Air Rifle, three Scots qualified for the final, with Seonaid and Jen McIntosh the highest scorers. The order remained the same after the final, Seonaid winning with 247.9 to Jen’s 245.7, with Kiera Bexley 8th. In the Women’s Air Pistol, Sheena Sharp took the silver with 214.8.
Over on the 50m range, breezy conditions kept the scores low across the three days. Bobby Spence won the first of the two Prone matches with 619.6, and went on to take the Bronze medal in the Men’s 3P event, qualifying with 1113 and shooting a final of 420.1. In the Women’s 3P event, Seonaid and Jen McIntosh dominated once more, qualifying with 576 and 572 respectively, with Sheena Sharp also making the cut for the final with 545. In the final Sheena bowed out early in 7th place, but Seonaid and Jen stayed in control throughout, Seonaid edging the win with 453.9 to Jen’s 451.0.
In the second Prone match, Seonaid was the top scorer on the range with a PB of 621.7, and along with Jen and Fiona Crowden she qualified for the final – an event not normally held for the non-Olympic events. As usual with Prone finals, it was close affair with many changes in position through the new 24-shot format. Seonaid kept up her record of medals, securing the Bronze, just ahead of Jen in 4th and Fiona in 6th.
Many thanks to our friends on the Isle of Man for running an excellent event as usual, ably supported by a number of travelling helpers from Scotland including Iain Malone, Gavin Walker, Robin & Janis Thomson and the Island’s resident STS member Colin Watson.
Report by Donald McIntosh