Burnet County 4-H rifle team takes team, individual titles at state
At the state championship are Burnet County 4-H Youth Rifle Team members Harper Sitra, Morgan Sitra, coach Guy Taylor, Klein Stanley, and Weiss Stanley. Courtesy photos
The Burnet County 4-H Youth Rifle Team brought home the team and individual championship titles from the state competition in Victoria on June 1.
Three squad members finished in the top five, with high school junior Morgan Sitra winning the individual title by three points over her nearest rival, who was last year’s state champion. Teammates Harper Sitra and Klein Stanley, both ninth-graders, finished fourth and fifth overall. Recent high school graduate Weiss Stanley was 11th, just one point shy of making it to the finals.
“I am incredibly proud of these youngsters and the many competitive athletes in our club,” said coach Guy Taylor in a media release announcing the state results. “When you look at our team roster, we have sixth- to eighth-graders who are almost as good or sometimes better than our high school athletes. Next year, we will likely have two senior teams with high-quality athletes because we have so much depth to our team. We are thankful for the tremendous support of our parents and the community.”
During the Olympic-style rifle competition, athletes are required to shoot in three positions—20 rounds prone, 20 rounds standing, and 20 rounds kneeling—with a highly accurized and customized .22LR rifle. Each shot must hit a tiny dot in the center of a target, which is placed at 50 feet and no bigger than the period at the end of a sentence.
After the 60 individual rounds, the top 10 shooters compete in a high-pressure final, which consists of 10 individual shots.
Over the past five years, the Burnet County 4-H Youth Rifle Team has either won the top awards at state or placed in the top three as a team and as individuals. Morgan Sitra joins former Burnet County athletes Katie Bridges and Bethany Butler as individual state champions.
This is the second state team title for Burnet County, which also won it in 2022. The 2025 group broke its own team record and a state team record to claim that title.
“I have been coaching since 1999, and Burnet County is only one of two teams to ever break the 1700 mark,” Taylor said.
What’s next for the team? Some members will be attending summer camps at area colleges as well as a West Virginia University camp with a major university rifle team. To be invited, athletes must be recognized as elite shooters. The squad will take a short break before returning to a rigorous practice schedule later this summer and in the fall and hosting the Paralyzed Veterans of America rifle and pistol camp at their Burnet range in September.
Learn more about the Burnet County 4-H Youth Rifle Team on its Facebook group page.