Aiken High rifle team headed to nationals

SHOOT OUT: Heading to the Naval Junior ROTC rifle championship in Ohio this weekend are the Carolina winners from Aiken High. From left are Larry Lamb, Cody Mills, Kyle Burney, Sierra Woods and Joshua Strickland. Staff photo by Rob Novit.

At the conclusion of a season that was supposed to be rebuilding, the Aiken High Naval Junior ROTC rifle team is headed for the Navy Nationals in Port Clinton, Ohio, on Friday.

Unit commander Tony Negron admits he's still a little stunned by the success of his sophomore-dominated squad of Kyle Burney, Joshua Strickland, Cody Mills, Larry Lamb and Sierra Woods.

"I didn't expect this for two more years," Negron said. "In the space of one year, they've matched and succeeded those teams that have gone to the Nationals before. I thought we had a chance to maybe qualify for the state championship, but never expected them to actually win it."

The first-time shooters qualified for the team last spring, then got to practice during a week-long rifle camp at Midland Valley High over the summer. They were doing moderately well early in the regular season, but were fourth in the region at the time, behind Army ROTC squads Pelion and Wagener-Salley and Navy team Midland Valley.

"As we got into the season," said Joshua Strickland, "our scores starting going up with the experience. We all basically went above average as we pushed each other."

Aiken High went on to win the All-Season Navy Regional and then the combined South and North Carolina Navy tournament in the Sporter category. They shot a combined 2,099 in that contest. To put that effort in perspective, the team that went to Nationals three years ago tallied a 2,014.

In the Sporter division for the Nationals, each shooter will participate in two rounds of play a day apart. In each round, a team member will shoot 20 rounds each from the standing, kneeling and prone positions with a specified time frame.

"You have to turn off your emotions," Sierra Woods said. "You have to let everything go and get into a zone and focus."

The target is 33 feet away with a bull's-eye the size of a dime. Yet, the real target is the little white "dot" inside.

"It's smaller than an pencil eraser head," Negron said. "You have to obliterate that small dot to get 10 points."

The dream this season quickly emerged into qualifying for the Nationals, said Larry Lamb. The squad members practice at least three or four days a week.

"So much of it is a mental state," Lamb said. "It's really about you feel about shooting. If you're dedicated to it, you can take it as far as you want to go."

Senior writer Rob Novit, a journalist for the past 41 years, joined the Aiken Standard staff in 2001. He covers education news and general assignments.