Posted: July 12, 2021
The Somerset County 4-H Rifle Team won First Place in the 3-Position (3-P) category at the 2021 4-H Shooting Sports National Championships conducted June 21-25 in Grand Island, Nebraska.
From left, Ruby Korenoski, Haley Fetterman, Nicole Rininger, Elissa Barron.
The Somerset County 4-H Rifle Team won First Place in the 3-Position (3-P) category at the 2021 4-H Shooting Sports National Championships conducted June 21-25 in Grand Island, Nebraska. The Somerset team also won a third-place medal for high overall score in the small-bore competition and placed fifth in the steel-silhouette competition.
The 4-H small bore rifle team consisted of Elissa Barron, Haley Fetterman, Ruby Korenoski and Nicole Rininger. Barron and Rininger are both North Star High School students. Korenoski is a Conemaugh Township High School student and Fetterman is a 2021 Conemaugh graduate. The teammates qualified to participate at the 4-H National Championships by winning the Pennsylvania State 4-H, 3-P Championship last April.
The Shooting Sports Championships include shooting in three events using three types of .22-caliber rifles. In the steel silhouette match, a bolt-action rifle is used with a variable power scope. In the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP), a Ruger 10-22 auto-loader with a fixed 6-power scope is used. In the 3-P event, a single shot Olympic-style target rifle is used with open sights.
On day one of the championships, 21 teams, including young men and women from across the U.S., shot at steel silhouettes representing chickens, hogs, turkeys, and rams. The steel targets are set up at ranges of 40, 60, 77, and 100 yards. This event requires bolt-action rifles with variable-power scopes. The Nebraska winds were a real challenge for all the competitors, and the Somerset County team came in fifth place. There were 80 individual marksmen from 21 states registered for the three days of relays.
On day two of the championships, the contestants fired .22-caliber Ruger auto-loading 10-22 rifles at paper targets in the CMP match. This is a slow-fire and rapid-fire event at ranges of 25 and 50 yards. This style of rifle and timed event was new to the Pennsylvania competitors, who have years of experience with bolt-action target rifles. When scores were tallied, the Somerset team found itself in 10th place and eligible for a ribbon.
Day three of the championship competition posed a familiar style of shooting for this team. The members each have their own target rifles and all have won numerous competitions and awards in the past. The last day of this outdoor event had storm clouds on the horizon with high winds, thunder, and lightning threatening the completion of the match.
Fetterman and Korenoski are both members on the Conemaugh Township High School Rifle Team, and Barron and Rininger are members of the North Star High School Rifle Team. In addition, all four shooters have been members of the Jerome Junior Rifle Team for several years. This travel team has members from a number of area high schools and is based at the Jerome Sportsmen's Club, near Jerome, Pennsylvania. However, this is the first season the young women have shot in 4-H sanctioned events.
The coach of the 4-H team, Mike Knapp of Hooversville, Pennsylvania, was proud of his group as they powered through difficult weather conditions to pull out a National Championship.
"Our ladies were poised, confident, and successful, and I knew they'd do well here in Nebraska." Knapp said. "Adversity is part of this game, and Elissa, Haley, Nicole and Ruby handled themselves in a professional, well-trained manner. They did a great job to bring home the gold in front of big crowds and against tough competition."
For more information, contact:
Mike Knapp, 4-H Coach: 814-659-9189
Barry Rininger, Jerome Coach: 814-233-6000
Joe Workosky, Photographer: 814-255-6417
