Sapulpa’s Air Rifle Team
When you think of high school sports, most will stick to the sports that involved a ball, but for a few students at Sapulpa High School, being a member of the Air Rifle team is the sport of choice.
Shooting sports have a long history in the high school ranks. Sapulpa High School’s Marine Corps JROTC has a 28-year competitive history. In this time, the team has secured three National Championship titles, three individual National Champions and one National Junior Olympic title according to retired Lt. Col. Shannon who heads the program.
“I have been the rifle coach for five years, ever since I retired from the Marine Corps and started as the Senior Marine Instructor for the JROTC program,” Shannon said. “We just returned from our fourth consecutive appearance at the Marine Corps Service Championship, where we placed seventh in the nation. We provide all the equipment for our rifle team athletes, from the Olympic level air guns to the precision class suits to the competition pellets used.”
The team at SHS competes in multiple leagues.
“The rifle teams compete in two rifle classes: precision and sporter. We compete in multiple leagues and sanctioned matches throughout the entire school year and occasionally into the summer. We host two Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) matches each year, which includes the Three-Position Air Rifle State Championship and have been asked to host a third, which would be another cup level match,” said Shannon.
The club is affiliated with USA Shooting and hosts the USA Shooting State Junior Olympic Championship for air gun.
“We compete against other rifle teams in Oklahoma and our neighboring states that come from other JROTCs, 4H teams and youth club rifle teams,” said Shannon.
Grades 8-12 are eligible to tryout and compete. Currently the team consists of five precision rifle athletes and eight sporter athletes on the team. Sapulpa is one of two Marine Corps JROTC program in the Tulsa area, with only three in Oklahoma.
Every team member receives marksmanship and firearms safety training, as well as the chance to qualify for marksmanship badges and be invited to try out for the rifle team.
“We have one of the most developed high school rifle programs of any high school in Oklahoma. Our electronic target air gun range is the only one in the state, and when the new high school is built, our range will expand to twenty firing points,” Shannon said. “We are so grateful to the generous sponsorship and grants we receive from the Sapulpa area and Marine Corps local organizations, without which our competitive rifle program would not exist.”
