Hays High School JROTC cadets Erica Felan and Christopher Kover earned spots at the Marine Corps Air Rifle National Championship competition coming up in February. (Photo by David Hamil)
Special to the Hays Free Press
Two Hays High Marine Corps Junior ROTC cadets earned spots at the Marine Corps Air Rifle National Championship event, scheduled for Feb. 12-14 in Anniston, Ala. Seniors Erica Felan and Christopher Koger have each been JROTC competition rifle team members for three years.
Koger competes in the Precision rifle category while Felan is in the Sporter, with the difference in the types of air rifles used.
Felan ranked 15 out of 1,504 Sporter competitors. Koger ranked 48 out of 181 Precision shooters. Only the top teams in each category are invited to the national competition.
“This type of competitive shooting is just like that done in Olympic competition”, said Maj. David Hamil, the Hays Senior Marine Instructor and Marksmanship coach. “They fire from 10 meters at bulls-eye style targets, 10 bulls per target in three positions – prone, kneeling, and standing.”
Competitors aim for a total possible 600 points, with most getting in the 560 range. Hamil said his cadets have their work cut out for them. “But they can hold their own,” he said.
