Amanda Myers said, “At the beginning I was sorta worried about how bad I was going to do, but afterwards I started to feel much better and have fun because of you guys [the team].” This was an especially interesting match for the team since it was their first travel match this year at Pemberton High School, NJ.

Hayden Kielbowick, John Harig, Hunter Kielbowick, and Isabella Moyer got down into the first position and readied their air rifles. Suddenly the whole room became quiet and everyone in the bleachers watched the shooters with anticipation. When they began to shoot they had five minutes to calibrate their air rifles. After this period ended, the Air Rifle Teams started shooting the actual targets and had 15 minutes to finnish. The quietness of the room and the occasional pop from an air rifle, truly showed how this was different from any other sport.

Nick Christensen said, “When you begin to fire at an event like this, you really start to feel a bit nervous. It’s not home so the range is unfamiliar to you, there’s people you don’t know shooting along side of you, and even more people watching your every move. It becomes so quiet that your nerves really being to start racking. But that experience is something that you can’t get anywhere else, because anywhere else you could push those nerves to drive you; here you have to shove them out in order to succeed. It’s truly a different kind of discipline.”

After the first match ended each school’s second team started to ready their equipment.. Amanda Myers, Christian Rudy, Bryce Delp, and Nick Christensen shot next. Both the teams were obviously nervous before they started shooting, but as soon as they got into position they seemed to become an emotionless statue. Now for the team this would be more of a compliment than an insult because this means they had control over their whole being. They don’t want their adrenaline to be pumping, unlike other sports, because this causes them to shake or move which affects their shot and make them inaccurate. Once the timer alarm went off everyone stopped shooting and eventually started to pack up. They went back to the lunch room with all of the equipment and waited for the scores to be posted.

Once the score lists were put out everyone crowded towards it. Some were disappointed and some teams were very happy about their scores. Then the awards were handed out. Nick Christensen was given a Bronze Medal for placing third in kneeling and Hunter Kielbowick was given a Silver Medal for placing second in the standing position.