Seven Medals for NL Shooters at Airgun Grand Prix

January 23, 2011, Shooting NL

After three days of training and competition ten Newfoundland athletes finished shooting the 29th Canadian Air Gun Grand Prix, in Toronto, netting seven medals and numerous personal accomplishments. This competition marks the final check for many of them before the Canada Winter Games next month. 

In the Men’s rifle events Ben Taylor narrowed the gap with Joshua Akow of Ontario to claim the silver medal in the Expert class. Ben was only one point out from the finals leaving him in 9th place overall. Jason Harnum held on to his lead in the Sharpshooter class to secure the gold, thereby leaving Dave Ficken with the silver. 

In Men’s Air Pistol, Rene De Haitre improved upon his Saturday result to take the silver medal in the Men’s International Junior Air Pistol. Finally, team coach and athlete Anthony Smith tied for silver in the Men’s Sharpshooter Air Pistol event. However, after the tie breaking rules were applied he was ranked third and awarded the bronze medal.

In women’s air pistol, Emma Meulenkamp, was second place at the start of the day in the International Junior Air Pistol event. Though she performed about as well as on Saturday, she was overtaken but still was able to claim the bronze medal. More remarkable is that this was only Emma’s second out of province competition and that she was able to shoot the 5th highest qualifying score thus earned a place in the Finals. This is a huge accomplishment for a shooter who came to the sport in February of last year! After the finals were over Emma was ranked 5th overall. Teammate Alyssa Sparkes, improved upon her Saturday match to place 4th in the Sub-Junior category. 

Finally, in women’s rifle, Brenda Greene won the gold medal in the women’s Expert class. Samantha Marsh and Meghan Harris came in 4th and 6th in the Sub-Junior category. Meghan fired a personal best on Saturday and then bettered that score on Sunday by 2 points.

All these athletes train out of the Frank Zahn High Performance Marksmanship and CSCA Training Facility in the School of Human Kinetics and Recreation of Memorial University.

Results Summary:
Men’s Rifle Class Score (1200) Place
Ben Taylor EX 1134 Silver
Jason Harnum SS 1102 Gold
Dave Ficken SS 1091 Silver
Women’s Rifle Class Score (800) Place
Brenda Green EX 760 Gold
Samantha Marsh SJ 731 4th
Meghan Harris SJ 724 6th
Men’s Pistol Class Score (1200) Place
Anthony Smith (Coach) SS 1066 Bronze (after count back)
Rene De Haitre IJ 1060 Silver
Women’s Pistol Class Score (800) Place
Emma Meulenkamp IJ 709 Bronze, IJ and 5th overall
Alyssa Sparkes SJ 662 4th

For more information contact Dave Woolridge at 778 0405 or