Above: Anette “30CalGal” Wachter won the 2017 Andrus Trophy Match.
Day two of the 2017 NRA National High Power Rifle Long Range Championships was nearly as hot as day one, with the temperature reaching a high of 91 °F, and rough winds that reached 18 mph. This is the inaugural year of the NRA High Power Championships at Camp Atterbury, IN. Saturday’s matches included the Leech Cup, the Porter and Andrus Trophy Matches, and also the Roumanian Team Matches.
The Leech Cup is a metallic sights-only match with 20 slow fire shots prone at 1,000 yards. The Porter Trophy and Andrus Trophy Matches are both fired concurrently with the Leech Cup. The Porter Match course of fire is nearly identical to the Leech Cup, but with service rifles. The course of fire for the Andrus Match is also the same—but with Palma rifles.
Jim Sokolowski (Franklin, TN) won the Leech Cup, finishing the shootoff with a score of 98-4X. In second place was Phillip Crowe (Cullman, AL), and in third was Nancy Tompkins (Prescott, AZ). High Senior was 2016 Wimbledon Cup winner Norman Crawford (Fayetteville, NC), and High Grand Senior was Steve McGee (Brookville, KS).
The Porter Trophy winner was Army Reserve shooter SSG Sean Morris (Las Cruces, NM). He completed the shootoff with a score of 94-1X. Fellow Army Reservists MAJ Samuel Freeman (Hendersonville, NC) and SPC Keith Stephens (College Station, TX) placed second and third, respectively.
For the Andrus Trophy Matches, Anette Wachter (Mercer Island, WA) won the shootoff with a score of 142-3X. Her score was a single point behind second place finisher Keith Hoverstad (Raleigh, NC) who also won High Senior. In third place was Daniel Altman (Bowling Green, OH), and Blair Clowdis (Randleman, NC) won Grand Senior.
The Roumanian Team Matches are for 4-man teams, with 20 shots at 1,000 yards per firing member. There are three divisions: Palma, service and any rifle (metallic sights only). The overall match winner was Team Highway 6 with a score of 785-26X. Highway 6 additionally won the Palma division. Team members were Benjamin Lucchesi, Daniel Altman, Adrian Harris (also Team Captain), and Coach SFC Russ Theurer. Service rifle was won by USAR Service Rifle scoring 762-22X, with team members SPC Keith Stephens (also Team Captain), SSG Rafael Fuentes, SSG Sean Morris and MAJ Samuel Freeman (also Coach). For any rifle, the winning team was Southeast Rifle Club Blue scoring 781-29X. Team members were Jon Howell, Thomas Guercio, Brian Newkirk, J. Ladd, and William O’Rourke who performed as both Team Captain and Coach. Additionally, Southeast Rifle Club Blue finished in second place overall.
Day three matches at the NRA Long Range Championships have been delayed due to thunderstorms. Shooting is set to resume at 2:00 p.m. Unfortunately, the weather forced the cancellation of the Herrick Trophy Team Match.
You can view the full results of the 2017 NRA National High Power Rifle Long Range Championships at this link: competitions.nra.org/championship-results/nra-national-outdoor-rifle-pistol-championships-results.aspx#5
