Four members of the TCU rifle team returned from a successful trip to the National Junior Olympic Rifle Championships held at the US Olympic Training center in Colorado Springs. Sophomore Sarah Beard was the top finisher for the Horned Frogs as she took home second place honors to earn a spot on the National Junior Team for the second straight year.
In the Women’s 10 Meter Air Rifle, Beard and sophomore Sarah Scherer finished second and third, respectively. Scherer fired a 394 on the first day, topping Beard, who shot a 393, by just a point. Day two saw the duo match each other shot for shot as they both fired a 396 to finish in the top eight and advance to the final round. In the final, Beard erased the deficit with a score of 104.6 to take home second place honors. Scherer fired a respectable 103.0 to take home a third place finish.
Also competing for the Frogs were freshman Catherine Green and freshman Jaime Dowd. Green finished 21st overall with a two-day tally of 771 (384 on day one and 387 on day two). Dowd fired a combined 754 (379 on day one and 375 on day two) to finish 67th.
Scherer, Beard and Green also took part in the Women’s 50 Meter 3×20 Smallbore Rifle.
After the first day of competition, Scherer was in third place after shooting a 581, with Beard firing a 576 to stand in fifth place. Both moved up the standings on the second day with Scherer firing the high score of 587 for the second course. Beard finished the second day with a 579 to move up to fourth place. The combined scores for Scherer and Beard were enough to qualify the duo for the finals. Scherer fired a 99.7 in the final to finish second overall in the event. Beard finished close behind in fourth place after firing a 96.7 in the finals.
Green had a strong showing as well, finishing 10th with a two-day total of 1139. On the second day of the competition, she fired a personal best of 574.
Scherer is a current member of the National Rifle Team, having earned her spot with a first place finish last December in the USA Shooting Winter Airgun Competition. Both Beard and Scherer will continue to compete as juniors the remainder of the 2011 season.
Scherer will depart on Tuesday for South Korea to compete in the ISSF World Cup in Changwon. She is entered in the Women’s Air Rifle event.
