“In a year that saw Camp Perry ravaged by tornado and windstorms, the hard work of the Ohio National Guard, the CMP, and the professionals and volunteers of the NRA again brought forth a miracle reminiscent of the one performed in the wake of the loss of military support in 1968.”
—Shooting Sports USA, October 1998
Just two weeks before the start of the 1998 championship program, weather played one of its most significant roles in National Match history. On June 24, a tornado ripped through Camp Perry and left its trademark calling card of damage and destruction.
Buildings, landmarks, trees and ranges were affected by the storm, which prompted many competitors to wonder if—after 45 consecutive years in the post-World War II era at Camp Perry—the National Matches could be conducted. NRA National Match Coordinator M.S. Gilchrist recalled the administrative response. “[CMP Director] Dave Willis put in his mind he was not going to fail. I put it in my mind we were not going to fail.” What transpired was a program where the “can do” mantra resonated, underscored by a proliferation of competitive highlights and firsts.
It was certainly a memorable year for Staff Sgt. Brian Zins, who missed the 1997 National Matches, yet picked up where he left off in 1996—with the national pistol championship. Although Zins’ 2635 tally was 26 points lower than what he posted two years earlier when he won his first national title, it was all relative as scores this summer were lower across the board. The three aggregates that comprise the championship all featured non-record threatening numbers and Zins finished in the top three in two of them. A rapid-fire victory helped keep him within two points of the lead after .22 firing and even Zins’ lowest aggregate score, an 868 in center fire, didn’t douse his chances when an 877 topped the field. Conversely, Zins entered the .45 phase five points up and locked up his second national title by finishing one point off the winning .45 score of 879 posted by civilian Al Dorman.
In the end, Zins’ margin of victory was five over runner-up James Henderson of the Army Reserve and civilian champ Jerry Chaney, who finished third by virtue of six fewer Xs. Ruby Fox garnered her 16th women’s title, Arthur Monahan topped the seniors and Adam Sokolowski was high junior.
In the CMP phase, Zins dropped out of the spotlight, but not for long. After finishing 32nd out of 523 in the President’s Match, which Air Force Staff Sgt. Jim Bob McCarty won with a 380, Zins won the General Custer Trophy by a one-point margin over Gunnery Sgt. Randall Lawless in the National Trophy Individual Match. A third service branch was then recognized when USAMU Blue beat out 31 others in the National Team Trophy Match for the Gold Cup.
The smallbore position matches began without the testy winds that usually bedevil the event and shooters rushed to take advantage of the calm conditions. An Army sweep in the metallic matches was punctuated by a record championship score of 1156-43X by Sgt. Troy Bassham—nine points better than the previous high score fired in 1994 by teammate Michael Anti, who had this year’s best iron standing score.
Capt. David Johnson, who won the iron prone match, duplicated his success when scopes were added and Bassham took the standing match. With his kneeling victory, collegiate All-American Vincent Pestilli prevented a complete Army sweep. Johnson won the any-sight championship, and Bassham, who built a considerable lead with iron sights, ended with a 2295-85X for the national title, an accomplishment that had eluded his famous father, two-time Olympic medalist Lanny Bassham. Shane Barnhart, who was high junior the previous two years, finished eight back to claim high civilian and second place overall. Emily Caruso won her second women’s crown in three years while Fred Cole locked up his third straight senior title.
There were plenty of 400s in the first match of the prone championship, but the frequency dwindled and when meter match scores went up, there were none at all. At the end of the day, defending national champ Lones Wigger, Jr., had the lead with a 1597-129X, unusually low for Perry. Five Xs back and in hot pursuit of the legendary champ was Cory Brunetti.
Shabby X counts followed, an indicator that conditions were deteriorating and staying at or near the top paid off for Barnhart, who won the second day with a 1598-121X. Air Force Capt. Doug Clark then managed to push Barnhart aside for the Hoppe Trophy as metallic sight champion. Clark’s 3193 was three better than both Barnhart’s and Brunetti’s scores.
The any-sight championship went to the Army’s Lt. Col. Boyd Goldsby with a 3198-259X and the national prone title was only final after all the Xs had been tallied. College All-American Brunetti, with seven category titles at Perry to his credit, reached the pinnacle of National Match success with a 6387-475X, a nine-X margin over Clark who was named service champion. Barnhart finished third to cap an incredible overall performance. In addition to his bronze medal, he won collegiate and junior titles in both prone and position this year, a feat accomplished just once before—by Brunetti in 1992. Carolyn Millard-Sparks was awarded her sixth Remington Trophy and Ron West made his fifth trip to the stage as senior champion while Barry Smith snapped Wigger’s five-year run as intermediate senior champ.
A run of much greater proportion was snapped this year in high power when Nancy Tompkins-Gallagher became the first woman in National Match history to win the overall national title. And preceding the feat by a week was Marine Sgt. Julia Watson’s win in the National Trophy Individual Match, another first by a woman shooter at the National Matches. Watson also finished as the third highest service shooter in the NRA Championship.
Tompkins-Gallagher’s winning score was 2378-94X, five better than defending champion G. David Tubb’s second-place tally. And while she did not log a single match win or garner any of the three aggregates that comprise the championship, Tompkins-Gallagher displayed the consistency of a true champion as she steadily amassed her winning score. Tompkins-Gallagher’s highest finishes were third places in the Navy Cup, Crescent Cup and Crowell Trophy Matches. She finished second overall in the Nevada Trophy Aggregate, was first high master in the Clarke Aggregate and fifth high master in the Vandenberg Aggregate.
“In recent years the Army has fired impressive scores with match-fired M16s. This year the Marines have followed suit by retiring their M14s and switching to the ‘Black Rifle.’”
—Shooting Sports USA, October 1998
Service champ Grant Singley of the Army, who had topped the service field two years earlier, took third overall and helped USAMU Bentson win the National Team Trophy Match earlier in the program as well as the NRA Enlisted Men’s Trophy Match. In addition to Watson’s NTI win, Marines scored big in the remaining National Trophy events: the President’s Match went to Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Gilbert and the top two finishes in the National Trophy Infantry Match went to Corps teams.
Bert Medina stayed atop the police category in the NRA Championship for the third straight year while six-time national champion Mid Tompkins topped the seniors for the first time in his National Match career. By virtue of her overall win, Tompkins-Gallagher also claimed both civilian and women’s honors.
In long range, Michelle Gallagher extended the family’s success on the National Match firing lines by winning the Tompkins Trophy Match, emblematic of the Long-Range Championship. The title was last won by her mother, Tompkins-Gallagher, and in 1998 Michelle earned her own title in record fashion. Stepfather Mid did some record setting too when he raised the bar in the Palma Individual Trophy Match.
Tom Whitaker, who won the Palma event the year before, finished eighth overall in the Long-Range Championship where he tied the record Leech score (200-12X) set by Richard DelSesto 10 years earlier and upped by 11 Xs his own national record from 1996 in the Canadian Cup, the year he won both the high power and long-range national titles.
