August 9th, 2009
The National Trophy Rifle Matches are a series of competitions held at Camp Perry between the Smallbore Championships and the High Power Championships. Trophy matches include Team Competition, Individual Matches, Junior Events, Vintage Military Rifle Matches, Garand matches, and the prestigious President’s Rifle Trophy Match.
In what may be the biggest single rifle event in the United States, Mark Laramie out-shot 1262 service rifle competitors to win the historic President’s Trophy Match with a 390-13X Aggregate score. Tucson (AZ) teen sensation Tyler Rico finished a close second, just two points behind, scoring 388-15X. Only 15 years old, Rico is the youngest shooter in the history of the President’s Trophy match to place second. He is also the youngest-ever recipient of the Distinguished Rifle Badge, which he received at the 2007 National Matches.
Traditionally, the top finisher in the President’s Trophy Match receives a letter of congratulations from the President of the United States. The tradition began with Theodore Roosevelt in 1904, a renowned advocate of rifle training, who wrote a congratulatory letter to that year’s trophy winner. The cut-off for this year’s President 100 was a 283-4X. The “President’s 100” will also receive President’s 100 medallions and certificates.
The President’s Trophy Match current format, adopted in the 2007, pits the top 20 competitors from the 30-shot qualification round in a shoulder-to-shoulder contest at the end of the match. The qualifiers fire an additional 10-shots in prone at 600 yards, and this final score is added to their qualification score to determine the winner. Shooters faced blustery wind conditions all day, and a change from sunshine to overcast skies in the middle of the final. Despite the conditions, Laramie outlasted second-place finisher Tyler Rico and perennial challenger U.S. Army SFC Grant Singley, who finished third. Entering the final, Laramie was in the lead with a 296-10X qualifying score, and went on to shoot a 94-3X to win by two points over Rico and SFC Grant Singley. Both Rico and SFC Singley shot higher scores in the final than Laramie, but could not overcome Laramie’s early lead.
Complete National Trophy Match Ranked Results | National Trophy Match Photos.
This report courtesy The First Shot, the CMP Online Magazine
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Birds-Eye View of Camp Perry Ranges
