Two groups of the territory’s top shots competed at recent air-rifle events but came back with different results.
Competing at the 2nd annual Canadian National Junior Ranger Marksmanship Championships held in Yellowknife, NWT, recently, three Junior Rangers from 1 CRPG (Canadian Ranger Patrol Group) - Yukon’s region - reached the podium.
Pelly Crossing’s Sgt. Danielle Marcotte, Haines Junction’s Sgt. Elisha Sembsmoen and Dawson City’s Stuart Leary shot their way to third overall in the team event.
Marcotte, who won silver last year, also took the bronze in the individual event with a score of 275/300, just one point behind second. Sembsmoen finished 23rd in the individual events while Leary placed 33rd.
The same weekend in Edmonton, five Yukon cadets competed at the National Cadet Marksmanship Championship in Edmonton, finishing at the bottom of the pack in the team, junior and open events.
As is often the case with sports in the Yukon, the territory was represented by sharpshooters chosen from a very small pool of competitors.
“In the Yukon we only have the two cadet units - all the cadets from Whitehorse to choose from,” said Cpt. Cheryl Major, public affairs officer with the Regional Cadet Support Unit (Northern). “So out of 10 competitors we had to choose five to go down to the national competition.
“For example, from Nunavut, they had 25 competitors and five went to nationals.
“So it’s all about the ratios and it’s just the fact that there’s only two cadet units in the Yukon, so it’s a very small pool to choose from.”
Making the trip from Yukon were 2685 Whitehorse Army Cadets’ Nolan Mountain, Mitchell Shepperd-Wipp, and Nathan Brown, plus 551 Whitehorse Air Cadets’ Dominic Larkin and Halley Wilson.
“What’s positive is that if you’re from the Yukon or from the north, you have a much high chance to compete in these national competitions,” said Major. “At the same time you’re competing against cadets that have a higher level of skill usually.”
Next year’s National Cadet Marksmanship Championship will be hosted by Whitehorse for the first time.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com