by St Paul's Collegiate School

Alex Purdie claims three gold medals in clay-target shooting

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The clay-target shooting team competed in three tournaments during the recent term holidays.

The first tournament was the South Island Secondary School competition.

In the single rise event, Alex Purdie and Kane Stirling both shot possibles in the qualifying rounds and moved on to the medal rounds later in the day. Tom Storey shot a PB in the Single Barrel event scoring 9/10 and Kane Stirling also shot well to score 8/10. In the medal rounds, Alex Purdie shot magnificently, completing a long run of 50 consecutive targets. His final score gained him the gold medal in this event.

The following day was the National Secondary School competition.

Once again, Alex led the way with a score of 24/25 in the Single Rise, with Regan Harris on 21/25 and Kane Stirling 20/25. Alex continued his good form, shooting a possible 75/75 in the Points event, and continued on to the medal rounds in the afternoon.

In the Single Barrel event, Alex shot 13/15 and Kane 12/15. Like the day before, Alex performed exceedingly well in the Points to take the gold medal in this event.

His overall score in the three events was 112/115 and he was chosen to represent the North Island in the inter-island competition. This was a fitting reward for his efforts over the two days.

The final tournament was the North Island Secondary School competition.

The first event was Single Rise and again Alex Purdie shot the possible 20/20 with Regan Harris continuing his good form scoring an 18/20. Alex also shot a 58/60 in the Points and a 9/10 in the Single Barrel event. Other good scores in the Single Barrel were recorded by Kane Stirling and Jack Ward with 8/10. In the medal round for Single Rise, Alex completed the trifecta by gaining the gold medal.

For such a very young team these results were very impressive and every member of the group made a significant contribution to our successes. Alex Purdie’s final tally of three gold medals, selection for the North Island team and a long run badge of 50 was exceptional for such a young shooter. Hopefully, this will lay a very strong basis for shooting over the next few years.