Jr Shooters Bring Home the Gold at Nationals

The 54th Daisy National BB Gun Championship was held last week in Rogers, Arkansas. Sixty-four teams from across the nation participated in the four day competition. Over 427 shooters made up the 64 teams. Daisy National BB Gun Tournament requires qualification in State tournaments. Boys and girls age 8-15 compete by shooting a 5 meter target in prone, standing, sitting, and kneeling position. In addition to shooting skills, the team members take a 50 question written test on gun knowledge, safety, technical skills, and tournament rules.

South Dakota was well represented this year by bringing home three of the top four places in the team event. The Pierre Junior Shooters of Pierre SD brought home the Gold and title of National Champions edging out Walton County of Monroe, Ga who took home 2nd place and the silver medal. Marshall County of Britton, SD finished in 3rd place and the Humboldt Sharpshooters of Hartford, SD rounded out the top 4. The Pierre Junior Shooters have also brought home the National title in 2017, 2016, 2014, 2012, 2011, 2008, 2005, and 2004 – as well as placing in the top 10 in many other years.

Members of the Pierre Junior Shooters team were Rylie Stoeser, Griffin Gates, Jenna Kruger, Skyler Ruth, Sam Sterling, alternates Marlee Shorter, and Ireland Templeton, and Jasmine Hays competed in the Match of Champions. The team is coached by Jonathan Hays and Sean Kruger.

A very important part of the competition is the Safety Test. The test makes up one-fifth of the teams final score. At the competition the Paul Tiefer Memorial trophy is awarded to the team with the highest combined test score. This year history was made and for the first time 3 teams tied for this honor. The exciting part was the three teams where all from South Dakota. Scoring a 496 out of 500 possible points, the Pierre Jr Shooters, Marshall County and Humboldt Sharpshooters shared the stage for this honor. For the Pierre Jr Shooters; Rylie Stoeser, Jenna Kruger, Griffin Gates, and Ireland Templeton all had a perfect 100. Skyler Ruth, Sam Sterling, and Marlee Shorter scored a 98.

Rylie Stoeser led the way for the Pierre Junior Shooters with a 6th place finish, Griffin Gates 8th place, Jenna Kruger 11th place Skyler Ruth 31st place and Sam Sterling 48th place. In the Alternate division, Ireland Templeton placed 7th and Marlee Shorter 13th out of 107 shooters. Jasmine Hays finished 24th in the Champions division out of 53 returning Champion shooters.

The Pierre Junior Shooters are comprised of sixty to seventy 8-15 year olds and will begin practice and studying again in January.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Image: Team with all of the individual coaches: Montee Shorter, Lisa Gates, Marlee Shorter, Jasmine Hays, Jenna Kruger, Ireland Templeton, LeeJay Templeton, Michelle Sterling, Griffin Gates, Sam Sterling, Skyler Ruth, Rylie Stoeser, Chad Stoeser, Levi Zilverberg, Jonathan Hays, and Sean Kruger