Looking Back At The 2009 NRA National Smallbore Rifle Championship

From the vault: The first installment of our coverage of the 2009 NRA National Smallbore Rifle Championship at Camp Perry, Ohio. As published in the October 2009 issue of Shooting Sports USA.

Results: 2009 NRA National Smallbore Championship
Story and Photos by Lars Dalseide

Specialist Joseph Hein of the United States Army Marksmanship Unit walked away from Camp Perry with a number of trophies to place on his mantle. Winning both the Three-Position (2378-141X) and Prone Rifle (4790-354X) Championships, it is easy to say that his performance was the best of the best at the 2009 NRA Smallbore Rifle Nationals.

1. Women shooters prospered in 2009 during the Smallbore Three-Position Championships. Reya Kempley was the woman champion with a score of 2363-146X. Caitlin Morrisey was the Junior champion after posting a score of 2359-110X and Arielle Mouhot was the Intermediate Junior champion with 2354-86X.

Photo 1: The 2009 Intermediate Junior champion Arielle Mouhot (left), Women’s champion Reya Kempley (center) and Junior champion Caitlin Morrisey (right). Photo 2: Smallbore Three-Position Any Sight winner Greg Drown fires shoulder-to-shoulder with other Any Sight shooters.

2. Like most, Greg Drown began shooting smallbore early in life. Success began to show as he captained the Ohio State Rifle Team and earned an invitation to shoot for the United States in the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics. There were Big Ten Championships, state and regional titles and the promise of future wins. But something began to change. Drown began to develop fatigue and several sensory difficulties. A trip to the doctor yielded a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. It was then that he stopped shooting. A chance meeting in 2001 with Detective Harris of the Nashville Police Department changed his mind.

“If you do this, there might be someone else out there who’ll be inspired to do more,” Harris said to Drown. “That’s why you’ll do this.”

At the 2009 NRA Smallbore Nationals, Drown won the Smallbore Three-Position Any Sight title. When Match Director H.Q. Moody announced his name at the awards ceremony, the crowd rose with a spontaneous standing ovation.

With hundreds of competitors and dozens of titles, the 2009 NRA National Smallbore Rifle Championships began with hope and ended with more. Hoping to return in 2010, hoping to shoot a touch better and hoping that the friendships made here will last a lifetime.