GLADSTONE, Va. — Lauryl Akenhead matched the high score at the 2026 Spears Mountain Safari NRL Hunter match this weekend and walked away with a piece of history. The Hornady-sponsored shooter finished as the highest-placing woman ever to compete in NRL Hunter, separated from the overall win by nothing more than the discipline’s tiebreaker.
Akenhead and David Swedberg each earned 119 points across 18 stages at Black Bear Shooting Club on May 2-3, dropping 25 targets apiece for an identical 82.6 percent hit rate. The match came down to power factor, calculated from bullet weight and velocity. Swedberg’s load registered 386,820 to Akenhead’s 375,480, enough to nudge him onto the top step. Akenhead took the runner-up trophy and the Top Lady title.
Competing in Open Heavy division, she was running Hornady 6.5 mm Creedmoor 140-grain Match ammunition through her rifle.
“The 6.5 Creedmoor factory loaded ammo performed awesome,” Akenhead said. “The 140-gr. ELD Match bullet is perfect for NRL Hunter, and the fact I get winning performance from factory loaded ammo lets me focus more on shooting.”
Akenhead was perfect for 9 of the 18 stages over the two days. Kyle Lamb rounded out the podium in third place with 117 points.
The Spears Mountain Safari competition unfolds across mountainous terrain overlooking the James River. Black Bear Shooting Club hosts NRL Hunter competitors on ground that once held a Cold War-era communications site, one of five facilities built on the East Coast to maintain contact during a potential nuclear exchange. The course pushes precision shooters through field positions and unknown distances on hunting steel rather than benchrest setups.
For Akenhead, the result reframes what’s possible at the top of the discipline. No woman had previously placed this high at an NRL Hunter event.
See the full results of the match at the NRL Hunter website.
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