This season’s Schools Pistol Championships has come to a climax with a national final – and three top three seniors winners are girls.
It was a close tussle for the podium positions, but it was the Cornish athlete Charlotte Hicks who took the individual title.
After a few seasons out pursuing all her other sporting ventures with Pony Club and modern pentathlon, Charlotte has come back to the Schools Pistol Championships and won it.
“Charlotte has never stopped her shooting training,” says proud mum Kathy. “She trains either at the yard in the sand school, or at home at the back of the house, with next doors greenhouse behind the target.”
The placings 2nd-6th were only separated by the difference in target scores. On countback, the silver medal went to Annabel James (Withington Girls School, Fallowfield) and bronze to Scarlett Garner (West Coventry Academy, Coventry).
The team from Hartpury College are all in year 13, so made their final appearance in the Schools Pistol Champs one to remember taking Silver. It was the team from Ellesmere College, coached by Tom Rylands, who made their step up into the senior age group with style, taking senior team championship.
The Ellesmere team last season included Francine Gilmore and were intermediate champions. George Joynson who joined Ed Astbury and James Caldwell to take their first senior team title.
More than 100 finalists across all the regions in the UK shot their national final competition targets remotely and submitted their scores and targets centrally, in their bid to become national champion 2020-21.
The junior individual and team champions titles both went to Scottish school Lockerbie Academy. Tara Kane shot an outstanding 198/200 to take individual gold and she was joined by her teammates Jack Edgar and Iona Yule to take the team title too.
Kirsty Boardman, former Scottish International pistol shooter, shooting coach and geography teacher at Lockerbie Academy says: “Something just seems to have clicked with Tara. It’s so wonderful to have a group of really talented students here at Lockerbie. We make it so much fun.”
The intermediate campionship was a tight contest, too. All three medal winners shot the same score, so the title was decided on countback. It was Henry Daubeney from Radley College who was crowned intermediate champion, narrowly ahead of Jorja Slater-Morris from the Burton Borough School and Abi Agami from John Kyrle High School.
In the intermediate team championship, just one point separated the eventual gold and silver, with Welsh school Taf Secondary taking the title ahead of the team from Ellesmere College.
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Schools Pistols Championships results
Junior
Champion: Tara Kane (Lockerbie Academy)
Jessica Lewis (Ryedale School)
Isabella Caldwell (Withington Girls School)
Junior team
Champion: Lockerbie Academy (Tara Kane, Jack Edgar, Iona Yule)
Sir Joseph Williamson’s Mathematical School (Ben Bucknall, Stanley Bucknall, Matthew Angel).
Taunton Prep School (Zoe Trembath, Laura Trembath, Rufus Holden)
Intermediate
Henry Daubeney (Radley College)
Jorja Slater-Morris (The Burton Borough School)
Abi Agami (John Kyrle High School)
Intermediate team
Dyffryn Taf Secondary School (Eleanor Fuller, Nia Philipps-Waring, Jasmine Philipps-Kindred)
Ellesmere College (Francine Gilmore, Beatrice Taylor, Josh Norris)
Leweston School (Ginny Bruce, Honor Gallia, Nikita Miah)
Senior
Charlotte Hicks (Home-Schooled)
Annabel James (Withington Girls School, Fallowfield)
Scarlett Garner (West Coventry Academy, Coventry)
Senior team
Ellesmere College (Ed Astbury, James Caldwell, George Joynson)
Hartpury College (Georgina Crawford, Georgina Wixey, Charlie Brown)
Woking College (George McEwen, Jenna Culshaw, Chloe Westphal)
Thank to Andy McGarty for sending in the story