At the end of Term 2, the shooting team participated in this two-day event at the Waikato Gun Club.

Day one started on a very positive note, with Dylan Woodhouse shooting a possible 20/20 in the single rise and Louise van Bysterveldt and Taotahi Te Ua scoring 19/20 in the same event. The points scores in event two were a little lower than expected. However, Jono Porritt came away with a very respectable 59/60 and Louise and Alex Purdie both scored 56/60. The final event of the day was the single barrell. Dylan led the way with 9/10, with Louise and Harry Meyer (in his first competitive shoot) scoring 8/10.

In the shoot-off for medals, Dylan gained the bronze medal in the single rise and Louise gained the silver medal in the high overall competition, with a combined score of 83/90.

With two medals for the day, the team were feeling very positive about the North Island competition the next day.

Day two once again started well. Dylan and Alex shot the possible 20/20 and Taotahi and Louise both shot 19/20. Then disaster struck in the points round. After an excellent start, Louise’s gun malfunctioned with the springs and firing pin failing to engage properly. Although she was able to continue with a borrowed gun, it was to have a considerable impact on her and the team’s final score.

To their credit, the team battled on and dug deep, with Stanley Meyer scoring 59/60, Dylan 57/60 and Taotahi 56/60. Our final team score of 273 was a good reflection of resilience, in trying to overcome what was a large impact on our aspirations for the day.

The single barrell event saw Jono Porritt and Stanley Meyer score 9/10 and Louise fought back to shoot an 8/10. Alex Purdie shot exceeding well for a novice in the medal shoot-off in single rise, completing 22 targets before being eliminated. This was a “long run” PB for Alex, who is in his first year of competitive shooting.

Although the results were a little disappointing, the ground work has been laid for a more successful outing at the nationals at the end of term 3.