Local shooters excel at National 4-H Invite

Two members of the Young Guns 4-H Shooting Sports program of Columbia Falls fared well at the National 4-H Invitational, held June 25-28 in Rapid City, S.D. About 440 shooters, representing 32 states, competed in nine different shooting disciplines.

Austin Styler competed in air rifle events. Individually, he placed 10th in the sporter standing event and fifth in the silhouette event, earning a fifth-place overall finish for the three-day competition. As a member of a four-person team, Styler's scores, along with top-10 finishes by other team members, contributed to a second-place team win in the 3-position event, first place in the sporter standing competition and first place at silhouettes.

These combined daily wins earned the Montana air rifle team the gold medal overall at the match. Other members of the team were Leland Fabel from Kalispell and Brooke and Max Kinna from Belgrade.

Andrew Cox represented Montana on the compound archery team. Cox scored a 10th-place finish individually in the 3-D competition. High scores and top-10 finishes by all four members of the Montana team earned them a second-place finish in the field round, first place in the 3-D event and third place in the FITA round. Overall, the Montana compound team won second place, missing the gold by a mere two points. Brandon Adolph of Roundup, Brad Bodle of Townsend, and Alex Sorenson of Stevensville competed with Cox in this discipline.

Montana's recurve archery team, composed of Andrew Loucks, Josh Moore, Val Phillips and Sam Schneider, all from Ravalli County, placed first in field, 3-D and FITA rounds, earning an undisputed first-place finish overall.

Josie Evenson of Kalispell and Justin Eckhardt competed in air pistol events as well.

Practice and dedication throughout the years paid high dividends for these 4-H shooters. Montana was well represented at the National 4-H Invitational shoot.

-Submitted by Rick Miller