Back from a great trip......

Hi, everyone! Sorry that I have been M.I.A., lately! I took a trip to Port Clinton, Ohio to watch my son shoot in the JROTC National Air Rifle Championships this past week! we had a great time, even though the weather was a freezing 22 degrees with whipping winds off the lake! :0) The sun was shining, and the team did well.
For those not familiar, the championships consist of the the top 12% of all JROTC shooters in the nation. The fact that the Howe Team made it is fantastic! They did well, ranking 19 out of 39 teams that weekend.
They competition ran as two half matches - 20 shots in each shooting position: prone, standing and kneeling, on Friday, and then again on Saturday. They were given 40 minutes for prone and standing positions, and 30 minutes for the kneeling position.
Kyle did well (they all did), but not his best shooting ever. He shot a combined score of 992, and had 10 bullseye shots. He ranks #120 in the US. (There were 198 shooters in the Sporter class). His team is ranked in the top 6% in the country at #19. There were 38 teams that shot Sporter class this weekend.
They are all happy. This was the first time any of them had made it to the Nationals! :0) Yay, team!
Here's a few shots I took. The lighting at the range is certainly not optimal - ;ight is focused at the targets, always behind the subject, and we were not allowed to use our flash.

Prone Position

Standing Position

Kneeling Position

They are supposed to be making a "thumbs up" sign here, but it didn't work out so well! hahaha! The back and fronts of their hoodies were embroidered - awesome work! We had several other team coaches compliment them. A generous alum of the school donated the money for these, and for the cost of the trip!

This is at the awards banquet on Saturday night. We have five shooters on the team, and then we brought an alternate and an observer. Kyle is the far left, in the front row.