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A State Championship Title was contested at Ft Benning’s Pool International Rifle Range April 2nd, 2011, and Griffin High School brought home all the Gold and a Bronze Medal.

Riflery has been formally contested in Georgia since 1944 with Air Rifle being the recognized leader over Smallbore .22 Rifle since 1992. Griffin came close to Gold in 1992 and 2003 with Silver Medal Team Finishes. Griffin brought home Individual Gold and Silver Medals along with their Silver Team Medals in 2003. This is Griffins 7th Team qualification and trip to the State Championship Match. State Championship appearances for Griffin include;1992 2nd, 1993 4th, 1994 6th, 2002 8th, 2003 2nd, 2005 14th.

David Vs Goliath:

Let there be no doubt in anyone’s mind that East Coweta will be a tough contender every year in Riflery. They led the Area 5 averages thru the regular season with an 1149.70 average. Griffin hovered in 4th place with an 1137.50 average across 10 matches. Griffin Coach Lang was heard to say that “it’s better to be the underdog, than the leader.” Turns out he was exactly right.

Team Medallists Griffin Gold, East Coweta Silver, and Luella Bronze as well as fourth place (some call it 1st place “Paper”) Union Grove are all in GHSA Area 5. These Area 5 teams competed head to head several times this year, and each knew the others strengths and any weaknesses quite well. In fact Griffin suffered early losses on the Road in Match 1 at Union Grove and Match 3 at East Coweta. The Area 5 Playoffs again found Griffin in fourth place behind East Coweta, Luella and Union Grove. Griffin picked the correct day to post their season high of 1148 team points at the State Championship to win all the marbles.

Team Performance:

Griffin’s Sara Howell set the pace early by posting for only the second time this year in the 290’s with a 291, the high score of all 63 individual competitors on the day. Team members Ale Gonzalez and Kayla Collett kept things close with their 287 and 280 respectively. Golzalez score was good enough for an eighth place spot in the coveted Finals. She would go on to better that with a 95.2 to improve to seventh overall on the day.

Jay Cross had four shots left in his final (kneeling) position, when East Coweta’s Tyler Dayton made a critical error; he posted four “9s” in a row for a total score of 288. Jay Cross could not know what every spectator behind him knew at that point. It was numerically possible that East Coweta had a small chink in their armor. As the Chief Range Officer called “2 minutes remaining,” Jay shot two 9’s in a row for shots 7 and 8. Shot 9 found its way into the ten ring and every coach and spectator knew that Jay needed an 8 to tie or better to win. The crowd held their collective breath as Jay steadied his aim. With nerves of steel, he placed a .177 caliber pellet into the 10 ring, giving Griffin a 2 point win over Silver Medalist East Coweta and claiming Griffin’s first ever State Riflery Championship.

Individual Performance:

A Brawl within a Battle

Riflery consists of Individual Competitor scores that make up the Team Aggregate.

By the Time the Final two shots were tallied on the electronic scoreboard, Griffin eked out a two point victory for their first ever State Riflery Championship. It was then time to restart the lineup with the top eight individual scores to see who among them would be the Individual State Champion. This format is taken directly from the Olympic Riflery Finals and is designed to get the crowd and media more involved. Think NASCAR without TV. It can get quite loud as fans cheer their personal favorite champions.

Sara Howell took her single point lead into the Finals and posted some of the deepest 10’s (10.8, 10.7, 10.5 and a 10.1) of that part of the competition. Sara worked hard for those 10’s, but two 8’s crept in to steal her lead and she held on to a hard fought Bronze .5 ahead of fourth place finisher Kelsey Moral of East Coweta.

This was to be Jay Cross’s day, when he posted a 290, good enough for a third place start in the finals. Jay would go on to post the high score in the finals, 99.7 to overtake the lead and win the Individual State Championship Gold Medal. This was the culmination of a long year of hard work.

When the dust settled, a mere 9 points out of the 409 possible separated the top 8 contenders, and 3.5 points separated Individual Gold from paper. This was a hard fought and very close competition that changed leads almost with every shot, and was emotionally draining on athletes, coaches and the spectators.

Riflery is often more about committing to the process than natural talent. You get back what you put into it, and many Riflery Athletes will tell you that you win, by tenths of a point and what you log into your Shooters Journal.

Jay Cross started a single point out of first place, and by virtue of a tie breaker for the Finals, wound up in third place. Jay had to earn every tenth of a point the hard way. Nothing came easy.

This is what Champions are made of.


Roy McClain
GCO Life Member
CMP State Director
GSSA VP Ed & Tng
http://www.OleMillRangeCTC.com

Jay Cross

GHS, Cross: State Riflery Champs!
by Staff Reports http://www.griffindailynews.com/view/fu ... eft_column

Griffin Daily News
The Griffin High rifle team won the state championship this past weekend in Columbus. Clockwise from the top: Coach Julius Lang, individual state champ and team co-captain William Cross, Chrystina Tyler, Shayla Frazier, Madison King, Ale Gonzalez, team captain Sara Howell, Kayla Collett and Blake Connally. (John Sullivan/Daily News)
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Griffin High’s first state championship trophy in riflery. (John Sullivan/Daily News)
slideshow

COLUMBUS, Ga. — State championships are always memorable. However, the one the Griffin High rifle team won Saturday at Fort Benning on the last shot was more memorable than most.

The Bears come from behind to shoot an 1148 and win their first-ever state championship in riflery by two points when co-team captain William Cross — who later in the day came from one point behind to win the individual state championship by 2.4 points — painted the bullseye on his last shot.

“As soon as I shot the last shot, I turned around and everyone was cheering,” said Cross. “It was at that point that I knew what I had done.”

The tension had built to that point. It was the end of a long dogfight with perennial state favorite East Coweta, which shot an 1146 to finish state runner-up in the 14-team field.

Griffin, which had the fourth best average (1137.5) during the regular season in Area 5, stood tied 858-858 after two relays with East Coweta, which had the best average (1149.7) in Area 5 this season.

Cross went into the last relay knowing the whole match was going to come down to how well he fared head-to-head against East Coweta’s Tyler Dayton.

“Everyone on the team came to me before the match and said we’re tied — it’s all up to you,” added Cross.

Dayton bested Cross 100-98 in the first position (prone), but Cross outscored Dayton 96-93 in the second position (standing) to help Griffin take a slim one-point lead heading into the final position (kneeling) and the last 10 shots.

Cross had seven shots left when he heard the Chief Range officer announce, “Five minutes remaining.”

“My heart was racing,” said Cross. “I squeezed off four quick shots — all 9’s.”

When Cross had four shots left, Dayton made a critical error — posting four 9s in a row for a total score of 288.

That left the door wide open for Griffin to claim the title.

In the clutch, Cross delivered.

Cross didn’t know what every spectator behind him knew at that point — it was numerically possible that East Coweta had a small chink in its armor.

The tension was too much for 15th-year Bears head coach Julius Lang.

“It was too much on the heart,” he said. “I didn’t want to make them nervous. I walked out.”

As the Chief Range Officer called “two minutes remaining,” Cross shot two 9’s in a row for shots No. 7 and No. 8.

“On the last two shots I finally calmed down,” said Cross.

Shot No. 9 found its way into the 10 ring and every coach and spectator knew that Cross needed an 8 to tie or better to win.

The crowd held its collective breath as Cross steadied his aim and with nerves of steel, placed a .177-caliber pellet into the 10 ring, giving Griffin a two-point win over East Coweta for Griffin’s first state championship in riflery ever and the school’s first team sports championship of any kind since the 2003 boys state basketball title.

It was only Griffin’s seventh trip to the state riflery match, though the Bears did post state runner-up finishes in 1992 and 2003.

Griffin’s team captain, Sara Howell, set the pace early by posting for only the second time this year in the 290’s with a 291 — the high score of all 63 individual competitors on the day. Meanwhile, teammates Ale Gonzalez and Kayla Collett kept things close with a 287 and a 280, respectively, in the next relay.

Gonzalez’ score was good enough for an eighth-place spot in the coveted Individual Finals where she bettered that with a 95.2 to improve to seventh overall on the day.

Howell sat atop the eight-person field heading into the Individual Championship where she squeezed off a 95.7 to finish with a 386.7, good enough for the Bronze Medal.

Cross, meanwhile, who was tied for second at 290 with East Coweta’s Kelsey Moral — both a point ahead of three others tied at 289 — shot a 99.7 to finish with 389.7 points and the Gold Medal, 2.6 points ahead of Dayton who added a 99.3 to finish with 387.3 points and the Silver Medal.

It was Griffin’s greatest medal haul since Heather Hayes won the Individual State Championship and teammate Jessica McClain finished runner in 2003.

Other members on this year’s Griffin team that contributed to a 9-1 regular season record — their only loss was to East Coweta — and co-school record score of 1153 (shot on Jan. 27 to tie a record set March 14, 2002) included: Christopher Connelly, Chrystina Tyler, Shayla Frazier and team manager, Madison King.

“The best part is all of them plan to shoot again next year, which makes it a joy for a coach,” said Lang.


Read more: Griffin Daily News - GHS Cross State Riflery Champs

GHS, Cross: State Riflery Champs!
by Staff Reports

http://www.griffindailynews.com/view/fu ... eft_column

The Griffin High rifle team won the state championship this past weekend in Columbus. Clockwise from the top: Coach Julius Lang, individual state champ and team co-captain William Cross, Chrystina Tyler, Shayla Frazier, Madison King, Ale Gonzalez, team captain Sara Howell, Kayla Collett and Blake Connally. (John Sullivan/Daily News)


Griffin High’s first state championship trophy in riflery. (John Sullivan/Daily News)
COLUMBUS, Ga. — State championships are always memorable. However, the one the Griffin High rifle team won Saturday at Fort Benning on the last shot was more memorable than most.

The Bears come from behind to shoot an 1148 and win their first-ever state championship in riflery by two points when co-team captain William Cross — who later in the day came from one point behind to win the individual state championship by 2.4 points — painted the bullseye on his last shot.

“As soon as I shot the last shot, I turned around and everyone was cheering,” said Cross. “It was at that point that I knew what I had done.”

The tension had built to that point. It was the end of a long dogfight with perennial state favorite East Coweta, which shot an 1146 to finish state runner-up in the 14-team field.

Griffin, which had the fourth best average (1137.5) during the regular season in Area 5, stood tied 858-858 after two relays with East Coweta, which had the best average (1149.7) in Area 5 this season.

Cross went into the last relay knowing the whole match was going to come down to how well he fared head-to-head against East Coweta’s Tyler Dayton.

“Everyone on the team came to me before the match and said we’re tied — it’s all up to you,” added Cross.

Dayton bested Cross 100-98 in the first position (prone), but Cross outscored Dayton 96-93 in the second position (standing) to help Griffin take a slim one-point lead heading into the final position (kneeling) and the last 10 shots.

Cross had seven shots left when he heard the Chief Range officer announce, “Five minutes remaining.”

“My heart was racing,” said Cross. “I squeezed off four quick shots — all 9’s.”

When Cross had four shots left, Dayton made a critical error — posting four 9s in a row for a total score of 288.

That left the door wide open for Griffin to claim the title.

In the clutch, Cross delivered.

Cross didn’t know what every spectator behind him knew at that point — it was numerically possible that East Coweta had a small chink in its armor.

The tension was too much for 15th-year Bears head coach Julius Lang.

“It was too much on the heart,” he said. “I didn’t want to make them nervous. I walked out.”

As the Chief Range Officer called “two minutes remaining,” Cross shot two 9’s in a row for shots No. 7 and No. 8.

“On the last two shots I finally calmed down,” said Cross.

Shot No. 9 found its way into the 10 ring and every coach and spectator knew that Cross needed an 8 to tie or better to win.

The crowd held its collective breath as Cross steadied his aim and with nerves of steel, placed a .177-caliber pellet into the 10 ring, giving Griffin a two-point win over East Coweta for Griffin’s first state championship in riflery ever and the school’s first team sports championship of any kind since the 2003 boys state basketball title.

It was only Griffin’s seventh trip to the state riflery match, though the Bears did post state runner-up finishes in 1992 and 2003.

Griffin’s team captain, Sara Howell, set the pace early by posting for only the second time this year in the 290’s with a 291 — the high score of all 63 individual competitors on the day. Meanwhile, teammates Ale Gonzalez and Kayla Collett kept things close with a 287 and a 280, respectively, in the next relay.

Gonzalez’ score was good enough for an eighth-place spot in the coveted Individual Finals where she bettered that with a 95.2 to improve to seventh overall on the day.

Howell sat atop the eight-person field heading into the Individual Championship where she squeezed off a 95.7 to finish with a 386.7, good enough for the Bronze Medal.

Cross, meanwhile, who was tied for second at 290 with East Coweta’s Kelsey Moral — both a point ahead of three others tied at 289 — shot a 99.7 to finish with 389.7 points and the Gold Medal, 2.6 points ahead of Dayton who added a 99.3 to finish with 387.3 points and the Silver Medal.

It was Griffin’s greatest medal haul since Heather Hayes won the Individual State Championship and teammate Jessica McClain finished runner in 2003.

Other members on this year’s Griffin team that contributed to a 9-1 regular season record — their only loss was to East Coweta — and co-school record score of 1153 (shot on Jan. 27 to tie a record set March 14, 2002) included: Christopher Connelly, Chrystina Tyler, Shayla Frazier and team manager, Madison King.

“The best part is all of them plan to shoot again next year, which makes it a joy for a coach,” said Lang.


Read more: Griffin Daily News - GHS Cross State Riflery Champs