SAM Johnston was named ‘King of the Range’ at the annual Athletic Association of Great Public Schools of New South Wales (GPS) after taking out the top overall individual point score over the two days of recent competition.
Over three matches in the two days of competition he scored 195 including 14 bullseyes (of a possible 200).
Sam, a Year 11 student from Armidale, has been a member of the school’s shooting team since the age of 14. Last year he was named King of the Range at the All Schools match which is held the weekend prior to GPS, and at All Schools this year, he was wind-coach for this year’s title holder, team-mate Hugh Morton.
Team-mate Cameron Holcombe, a Year 9 student from Burren Junction, also shot well scoring 191-11.
As a result of their performances both boys were selected into the Combined GPS team that will compete against district rifle association teams for the Josephson Shield on Sunday 21 July. It is the third consecutive year Sam has been selected into the combined GPS team, while Cameron follows his brother Tom, who was a member in 2012.
Despite the strong individual performances and improvement throughout the events, the considerably younger TAS teams were unable to retain the GPS premiership title. For the Rawson Cup, a deliberate shoot over 500m and 600m, TAS placed sixth; the team was fourth in the National Rifle Association Shield, a deliberate shoot over 600m, then second in the Buchanan Shield over 300m, which has both deliberate and ‘snap’ style event in which shooters have five seconds to aim and fire at targets that are raised and lowered.
“TAS fielded a young and relatively inexperienced team this year with four of the eight boys in the first grade team coming from Year 9. Despite their lack of experience, the boys shot extremely well against very strong and older teams,” shooting MIC Mr Trevor Thatcher said.
“We can take heart from our excellent performance in the final match, the Buchanan Shield, coming first after the deliberate stage and slipping to second even though our snap shooting was of an excellent standard – however Sydney High managed to shoot more centres. The future looks promising with so many keen young shooters coming through the school ranks.”
Overall TAS was placed equal fourth with Shore School, behind Scots College, Sydney Boys’ High and The King’s School.
The TAS Second VIII were placed fifth after competing in deliberate events over 500m and 300m.
