Competitive shooter and Marble Falls graduate wins 4-H state championship
JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF
VICTORIA — Katie Bridges will leave the Burnet County 4-H Club going out on top.
Bridges, who graduate June 1 from Marble Falls High School, captured the 2013 Texas 4-H Roundup Indoor Rifle Match championship by earning 641 points.
Bridges said she thought about several things immediately after the victory, including her father, Michael, who died of cancer, and the fact she had finished her time as a Burnet County 4-H member.
“I was sad because I enjoyed (4-H),” she said. “I was happy I won (the championship.) It’s the last 4-H match ever. It was bittersweet. (My father) probably would have been proud of me.”
She earned a belt buckle as the state champion.
Bridges finished second at district to reach the state competition.
At the state event, she had to score in the top 10 of 109 shooters to advance to the final. Shooters took 20 shots in each position: prone, standing and kneeling.
Bridges scored 565 out of a possible 600 points and took a 12-point lead into the final but had to wait three hours before it started.
In the last round, the shooters got 10 shots.
“We all go at the same time,” she said. “It’s a five, four, three, two, one, start.”
Competitors got 75 seconds to take each shot, she said. During that short break, Bridges reminded herself to stay calm and concentrate.
She edged runner-up Tyler Gardner of Austin County by seven points.
Bridges will study geology at Texas Christian University in the fall and will be a walk-on for the women’s rifle team. The Horned Frogs won the NCAA championships in smallbore rifle and earned the bronze medal in air rifle.
Before Bridges focuses on college, she has other competitions this summer.
She’ll shoot in the Firecracker 4800 Prone Match in Raton, N.M., on July 4-7; the NRA Metric National Championship in Bristol, Ind., on July 11-15; and the NRA Smallbore Championships in Camp Perry, Ohio, on July 19-26 .
People wanting to help Bridges compete may donate to the Burnet County 4-H Club, which is a nonprofit group. Call Janet Bohannon at (512) 756-5463.
jfierro@thepicayune.com