Arizona State Long Range Championship November 17-18 2012

Shooters,

 

On and off since 1979 I have been shooting at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility and I cannot recall a time when the winds were so equal for the entire weekend. Nearly every relay over the two days was a carbon copy of the last and to top it off velocities never exceeded four minutes in any direction. Saturday was mostly overcast and Sunday was partly cloudy with moderate temps in the 70's. Just to recap, Steven Shaw dominated the F-Open class and was riding a 6 point lead over Steve Blair going into Sunday. Mike Smith had beat the rest of the F-TR bunch like red-headed stepchildren Saturday and possessed a commanding 15 point lead over newcomer Allen Elliott as he took the line Sunday. Allen has been a fixture in sling shooting for decades but this is his first go as a "bipod boy" In the sling division Phil Hayes lead over Justin Skaret was a mere 9 X's and their battle on Sunday was about to turn epic! The leaders were seed squadded so whatever was to unfold would be equal for all.

 

Picking up the action after the first string, Hayes and Skaret had battled to a draw as each man had fired identicle 199-13X's. Surprisingly, Oliver Milanovic picked that moment in time to fire his first 200 at 1000 yards. The 11 X's he carded was all he needed to claim the victory over Pete Church's 200-5X's. Congratulations Oliver I'm sure we will be seeing more of the same from you in the future, Shaw and his mighty 300 WSM stumbled a bit and posted a disappointing 193-6X. Blair was right there to capitalize and chipped two points off of Shaw's lead by posting a 195-8X's. Smith in F-Tr continued to hold the whip and shot an impressive 194-4 to widen his lead over Elliott by two more points to 17 and was well on his way to the title of Champion.

 

The second string of fire Sunday turned out be pivotal in deciding the sling Champion as Hayes only managed 196-5 and Skaret, with his eye firmly on the prize reeled off a monster 15x 199, giving him a three point lead with one to go! This masterful performance was eclipsed by the only 200 fired in the second stage by California's own Jim O'Connell. Shaw regained his footing in the second and posted a 198-11 to best Blair's 197-8 and regained one of those lost points. This gave him a tenuous lead of only 5 points with one more string to fire. Smith sealed the deal in his second string by shooting a very strong 195-2. Showing no desire to quit Elliotts 190 was game but he would surely need a miracle to erase a 22 point deficit.

 

As the leaders took the line for the last string of the Championship a quiet enveloped the group, as the usual chatter ceased. This was it, this was for all the marbles and showing no mercy Steven Shaw and his brute of a gun destroyed Blairs chances with yet another 198 and emerged as the 2012 Arizona State Long Range F-Open Champion! You couldn't ask for a more dominating performance as Shaw had taken victories in all but one of the stages over the entire weekend. In a similiar fashion, though by a much wider margin, Mike Smith rose head and shoulders above the rest of his F-TR brethren and cemented his victory with a 189-4! Congratulations to Mike on becoming our State Long Range Champion. It's interesting to note that there was no small accomplishment in Elliotts second place finish as he outclassed some serious competition in John Chilton and Warren Dean!

 

Finally we have Hayes and Skaret, good friends who battled like gladiators all weekend in our desert arena. Only one could claim the title and when the shifting sands settled Justin Skaret stood alone as our sling State Long Range Champion by only two points over Phil Hayes and just three over Canadian Ken Nelson. By far the closest of the contests all weekend. Congratulations to all three Champions and many thanks to all who attended. Full sling results can be seen HERE full F-Class results HERE and pictures of the weekends participants can be seen by clicking HERE.

 

Next up is our State 600 Yard Championship Friday November 23rd, followed by the State Highpower Championship Saturday the 24th and an EIC match Sunday November 25. I will add that pre registration numbers for Saturdays 800 agg is extremely low and downright abysmal for Sundays "leg" match. At this point we may very well have to cancel Sunday unless we get some more non distinguished entered