Burnet County 4H rifle team advances to national championship
Burnet County 4-H Youth Precision Rifle Team members Bethany Butler, Elijah Butler, Carson Moore, and Elizabeth Lilly advanced to the Civilian Marksmanship Program National 3-Par Championship this summer. Photo courtesy of Guy Taylor
The Burnet County 4-H Youth Precision Rifle Team continues its tradition of advancing to elite national events.
Bethany Butler, Elijah Butler, Carson Moore, and Elizabeth Lilly qualified for the Civilian Marksmanship Program National 3-Par Championship, which is July 17-21 at Camp Perry near Port Clinton, Ohio.
Supporters of the program are hosting a barbecue fundraiser from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, May 8, at The Place Downtown, 1910 RR 1431 West in Kingsland. Tickets are $10 each.
“While other teams who qualified are ‘select all-star teams,’ our kids started in our program when they were in the third grade, their first year of eligibility, and developed within our program, advisor Guy Taylor said. “Other teams recruit top shooters around the state and have no new shooter programs or any linkage or commonality other than being a good shooter.
“All Burnet County kids started in our program and grew with us to enjoy, not only a true team, but also the many benefits of the state 4-H programs,” he continued. “The elite teams on top are also high school juniors and seniors. The highest grade on the Burnet County team is 10th grade, yet they are able to compete at the same level as seniors and juniors.”
Though the Burnet County 4-H team qualified in 2020, the national event was canceled because of the pandemic.
This year’s matches are under COVID-19 restrictions and safety protocols.
Taylor said his shooters practiced at home.
“Still, the kids did a great job of improvising and practice alone and using electronic targeting systems at home,” he said. “Even though the number of matches declined, their scores did not. There were three months last year that we could not practice at all at the range or meet as a group. Once we figured out how to protect everyone and use distancing and protection protocols, we were able to increase our practice opportunities and reduce distance between the participants. And even with the difficult times, their scores still improved.”
Contact Taylor at olympicrifle@icloud.com to make a donation or find out more about the program.