The Bitterroot Marksmanship Club (BMC), a youth 501c3 air rifle marksmanship club, recently competed at the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s (CMP) Three Position Western Regionals in Salt Lake City. The event was held on April 19 and 20. The competition was attended by 240 junior athletes from throughout the West including Alaska and Hawaii. As this competition was a qualifier for the National Championships this summer, concurrent regionals were recently held in Alabama and Ohio.The event consisted of 20 shots each in kneeling, standing and prone both days.
The BMC received and accepted an At Large invitation and selected four of their 17 youth athletes to participate. The team was composed of Alaina Hein and Gabe Nott from Darby, Truett Watson from Victor and Alexis Bibby from the West Fork. Two of the youth are homeschooled while two attend the Darby Public Schools. They competed against the best teams in the West with an average age of 16-17 and multi-year marksmanship experience. The BMC is a new club that just started training in late November and the team’s age ranges from 11-14.
Prior to departing, the coaches and athletes jointly set a high but attainable team goal of a score of 1850 each day. On Day 1 the team scored 1837, just 13 points below the goal and on Day 2 they exceeded the goal by 15 points with a team score of 1865. Both days’ total scores were new club records and every athlete set new personal bests. The team score was led by Alaina Hein with a two-day cumulative score of 990 closely followed by Gabe Nott with a total of 978. The club finished 63 out of 79 teams nationally, an outstanding result considering the club’s youth and lack of experience.
This was the first major traveling competition by the club. Head Coach Joe Hein stated the following on the athletes’ performance: “Our young team had a great performance throughout the competition, representing the BMC and themselves very well. The athletes showed their competitive spirit by walking into a new range and competing shoulder to shoulder with teams who have years more of experience. I’m excited to see what this group of kids can achieve next season!”
Club Chairman David Naber remarked, “This event was a milestone for our club and marks our entry into youth competitions at the national level. A successful first participation at an event this large can only come about through the hard work and dedication of our athletes, coaches, committee members and parents. Further, the support we have received over the last two years from the Darby Rodeo Association, the Town of Darby and our generous individual and business donors has been phenomenal. We are grateful and the future is bright!”
Interested youth or donors can visit the club’s website at bitterrootmarksman.com.