Northside takes second at state riflery championship

The Northside High riflery team outperformed its 2015 state championship tally by two points on Saturday at the Pool International Shooting Complex but fell just short of defending its state title.

The Patriots came in second place overall at 1,155 points, 13 points behind East Coweta, which had two of its shooters finish first and second in the individual competition. East Coweta’s 1,168 points was a state team record, beating 2014 Allatoona’s 1,162 by six points.

“From a coach’s standpoint, I’m very pleased,” said coach Richard Brewer, who said Saturday would be his last as coach of the Patriots. “We scored higher than last year. You know, we won with a lower score last year. We just ran into an incredibly good team. We don’t have anything to be ashamed of.”

For the most part, the Patriots shot at or near their averages for the year. Jade Gallahair notched a 288, right on pace with her season average, and both Cason Borum and Hunter Gallahair exceeded theirs by a good bit. Borum notched a 290, more than three points over his average, and Hunter Gallahair a 289, nearly seven over average. Shelby Huber, normally the top shooter, was four points below his average at 288, but collectively the team did about what it expected to do.

“We shot pretty much what our best four or five will normally shoot,” Brewer said. “This is a pressure cooker. To come in here and do that isn’t easy.”

Borum had a balanced day in each of the three relay positions, prone, standing and kneeling. He scored 97 in the first, 95 in the second and 98 in the third to earn his 290.

“I think we all shot well,” Borum said. “It’s tough. There’s always a lot of pressure. It’s all in your head.”

Once he knew his team didn’t have a great shot at catching East Coweta, Borum said that pressure was relaxed.

“You get to a certain point where they’re enough ahead,” he said. “You quit stressing out and just go have fun.”

Since 2005, Northside has won four state championships and finished in second three times, including Saturday.

Individually, Columbus High also sent two shooters to the competition. Individual qualifiers must shoot a 290 or above during the season to qualify, and both Jared Eddy and Veronica Leggett made it to state.

Leggett shot a 291, including a perfect 100 in the prone portion of the competition. In 2015, she qualified with a 296 and finished second overall in the final round.

Eddy finished with a 292, putting him in the top eight of individuals to advance to the individual finals.

There, he finished in sixth overall with a 393.4. Tanner Whitehead and John Satterfield of East Coweta finished in first and second, respectively. They went into the last of 10 shots tied before Whitehead won 395.9-394.9.

This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 5:28 PM with the headline "Northside takes second at state riflery championship."