The Marshall County Sharpshooters hosted their annual shoot on Saturday. Team members in front left to right are Lucas Knudson, Rhyker Bender, Harry Cutler, Faustina Rapkoch, James Raabe, Elise Biel, Kandrick Jones, and Leo Schuller. Second row Cooper Nack, Lenyx Jones, Charlie Cutler, Ariana Crawford, Rylee Carlson, Delilah Maxwell, Aleece Patterson, Elaina Schamber, and Joanna Cutler. Third row Skylar Bender, Charles Schuller, Amelia Crawford, Kalee Carlson, Nick Cutler, Chris Cutler, Baylee Bender, and Kaylee Biel. Back row Tony Cutler, Dalton Anderson, Olivia Effling, Jacey Melroe, Alivia Crawford, Jasmine Biel, Adalyn Kanizar, and Rosalyn Rapkoch. Not pictured are Cullen Peters and Rylan Carlson.
Strong Showing For Shooters
The Marshall County Sharpshooters had a strong showing for their home tournament in Britton on Saturday. Forty competitors from the Marshall County club aged 8-18 participated. The Sharpshooters hosted nine visiting counties and a total of 183 kids put their shooting skills on display.
The hometown 8-9-yearolds stole the show again. First place medals were awarded to the “Circus Wings” team of Ariana Crawford, Faustina Rapkoch, Harry Cutler, Rhyker Bender, and Lukas Knudson. The kids collectively shot a team score of 2139 and 29 centers. Other 8-9-year-olds that shot for Marshall County were Charlie Cutler, Kandrick Jones, Elise Biel, Delilah Maxwell, Rylee Carlson, James Raabe, Leo Schuller, Elaina Schamber and Aleece Patterson.
The day belonged to Ariana Crawford. Crawford took the 8-9-year-old aggregate first place trophy with a score of 450 and 10 center shots. She also placed first individually in sitting (97-3) and kneeling (92-3). Crawford came out as the top Marshall County shooter in prone with her sec-ond place finish (95-3) and her fourth place finish in standing with a score of 82 and one center shot.
Coming in just eight points behind Crawford, Faustina Rapkoch took the second place aggregate trophy with a score of 442 and seven centers. Rapkoch placed top-ten in all four individual positions: prone, fourth with a 944; standing, fifth with a 79-1; sitting, fourth with a 93-2; and kneeling, third with a score of 89.
Harry Cutler had strong performances earning him his fifth place aggregate finish. He scored 427 with five center shots. Cutler also placed 10th in prone, scoring 90 and three centers, eighth in standing with a 78-1, and sixth in kneeling with a score of 86-1.
Rhyker Bender posted a top-ten aggregate finish, placing eighth with a score of 419 and seven center shots. She was second in kneeling with a 92 and two center shots, and it is worth noting that her second place finish came just one center shot behind Crawford.
Rylee Carlson would earn her first ribbon in competitive shooting with her top ten individual finish in sitting. Carlson scored an 89, placing her eighth.
The Marshall County “Ranch” team took home bronze medals in the 10-11year-old division. The Ranch kids were Alivia Crawford, Rosalyn Rapkoch, Skylar Bender, Jacey Melroe and Jasmine Biel. The all-girl team brought in a score of 2228 and 42 center shots and their third place total was just one point behind the Roberts County “Wolves” team. The additional 10-11 year old competitors for the day were Adalyn Kanizar, Olivia Effling, Rylan Carlson, Dalton Anderson, Tony Cutler, Cullen Peters, Cooper Nack and Lenyx Jones.
Crawford and Rapkoch were the top-ten aggregate placers for the 10-11-year-old division and both earned a ribbon for their test scores of 90. Crawford finished second place with an aggregate score of 459 and 11 center shots. She also earned an individual win in prone with a score of 98 and six centers. Crawford also placed seventh in standing with an 86-1 and 10th in kneeling with a 91-1. Rapkoch earned a fourth place aggregate finish with a score of 456 and nine centers. She placed individually in standing, earning fourth with her score of 87 and two centers and won the 10-11-year-old kneeling with a 96 and three center shots.
Bender, Melroe and Biel also brought home individual placings. Bender tied for seventh in standing with Crawford, scoring 86-1. Melroe finished eighth in standing behind Bender and Crawford by one center shot. Her score was 86-0. Biel placed 10th in sitting with a score of 95 and two centers.
Other individual top-ten placers for the 10-11-year-old division were Adalyn Kanizar who placed third in prone with a 97 and six center shots and Rylan Carlson placed fourth in sitting with a 96-4.
The 12-up division team earned a medal placing. The “Red Hot” team of Amelia Crawford, Chris Cutler, Baylee Bender and Kaylee and Rylan Carlson earned a team score of 2280 and 45 center shots, placing them third of 14 teams. Additional 12-up shooters were Nick Cutler, Joanna Cutler, Kaylee Biel and Charles Schuller.
Crawford and Culter earned top ten aggregate scores along with test awards. Crawford finished sixth out of 70 shooters with an aggregate score of 469 and nine centers and a test score of 96. Individually, Crawford placed sixth in standing with a score of 921. Cutler placed eighth with a 467 and eight centers and the lone perfect test score of the day.
The Marshall County tournament saw a large division of Senior shooters. Nine kids, ages 16-18, competed, including five from Marshall County. Austin Crawford placed first with his aggregate score of 478-18, which includes a test ribbon for his test score of 96. Hunter Biel placed third with a 460 and 18 centers. Clay Crawford was fourth with a 457-15 and a test ribbon for his 98 score. Jayden Bender finished sixth, scoring 457-7 and a test ribbon for her 92. Grant Cutler placed eighth with his 453 and eight centers and also received a test ribbon for his test scoring 96.
The Sharpshooters travel to Tri-Valley High School on Saturday to compete at the Humbolt County tournament in its last regular season event.