Wanaka and Alexandra Clay Target Intercollegiate Competition

By Maree Whiteley | Posted: Monday September 2, 2019

After school on Friday, 11 members of the Clay Target Squad: Arden O'Donnell, Harry Brenssell, Henry Sim, Riley Thompson, George Taylor, Nick Sim, Ollie Nicholson, George Scurr, Will Scurr, Tom Scurr and Harry Graham headed to Central Otago to compete in the Wanaka Intercollegiate event on Saturday.

After Hoops Army duty on Saturday, Tate Drummond joined the squad for the Sunday event in Alexandra.

At the Wanaka event on Saturday, the weather was perfect for shooting, clear blue skies and no wind. The only complaint was, it was just a bit hot!

The boys all shot well, with some gaining personal bests. The calibre of shooting from all the competitors throughout the day was very high, and there was not a lot separating those that made it through to the shoot offs and those that missed out.

For Otago Boys', Henry Sim made it into shoot offs for - Skeet, Single Rise, Point Score, and for the High Gun (top shooter across all events). Henry came away with 2nd Senior Single Rise, and 3rd Senior Point Score.

Ollie Nicholson was in the shoot off for Junior Point Score and came away with a 2nd placing. Nick Sim - 2nd Junior Single Rise.

Sunday was the Alexandra Clay Target Club Intercollegiate. A bit of a cooler start, but still a clear calm day, which saw the temperature climb as the boys competed into the afternoon.

The shooting from the competitors saw 20 perfect scores to compete in a shoot off for Single Rise, and 9 for the Single Barrell across Senior and Junior Shooters.

For Otago Boys', Harry Brenssell and Henry Sim got a perfect 20/20 for Single Rise and were in the shoot offs. Harry unfortunately dropped a clay early. After the remaining shooters had faced 35 targets there were 3 boys left. Henry Sim being one of these, to compete for the Single Rise Honours. These boys continued for another 35 targets before Henry missed his 71st target, to come away with a 2nd Senior Single Rise. The remaining 2 boys continued for another 25+ targets before the final winner was found. It was an amazing shoot off to watch.

In the Single Barrell, Tate Drummond and Nick Sim scored perfect 10/10. After this shoot off, Nick came away with 1st Junior Single Barrell.

As an extra event at the Alexandra event a team of shooters from Otago are selected based on their scores to compete against Southland.

Otago Boys' had 3 shooters in this event - Harry Brenssell, Henry Sim and Nick Sim with 2 shooters from St Kevin's. This team competed in the Down the Line disciplines - Single Rise, Point Score and Single Barrell,  the Otago team came out winners.

It was a great weekend for all the boys and parents who attended, and was good to see those boys, who this is their first year, compete well over the two days. 

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