The Jerome 2020 “Team Twelve” is made up of shooters from a number of local High School Rifle Teams. Conemaugh Township, North Star, Somerset, Shanksville, Windber and Berlin are all represented. These teammates are all dedicated to honing their accuracy skills for the highest scores possible. Good Luck this season!  Elissa B. above, Nicole R. below, both are North Star students.

Sienna C.  Windber Area High School

Haley F.  Conemaugh TWP.

Abby K. Shanksville High School

Gillian B. Conemaugh TWP.

Maryssa N. Somerset H.S.

Sierra L. Conemaugh TWP.

Nick M. Conemaugh TWP

Zach T. North Star

Hannah M. Berlin High School

Ruby K. Conemaugh TWP.

On Sunday, March 15, 2020 the Jerome Jr. Rifle Team was having their “Indoor Practice” for two up coming 3-Position Rifle competitions. One shoot was to be held near Pittsburgh and the other at the University of West Virginia. Both were ultimately canceled.

Hannah was having a good time with her first ever Air Rifle practice. The Team was focused on making a good showing in the Air Rifle portion of these events. Some competitions are 22 rimfire only.

Zach was also making his first attempt at the 177 caliber Air Rifle practice. No one knew, at this time, that the next practice was a long way off.

Each member of the Team had to reacquaint themselves with the 177 caliber air-powered rifles, and the different sights, stock, weight and distance, as compared to their 22 Caliber smooth-bore rifles.

Haley had some extra coaching advice from her Dad and her sister, Shelby. The Team tried to get Shelby to try a few shots while at the indoor range. Shelby insisted on just helping her Dad and being Haley’s coach instead.

Below, while on the Shooting Line, Nicole is a serious competitor and is not easily distracted by the photographers flash.

Nicole is shooting her Feinwerkbau Air Rifle, a popular and accurate choice.

The Team doesn’t get as much practice time in with the pellet rifles because not all competitions have the 177 category as part of the shoot. Elissa is a Top Gun with her FWB Air Rifle and recently scored a First Place in the PA Junior Olympics for Women’s Individual Air. Her score was 568-26-X.

Ruby was shooting her newly acquired Anshutz Air Rifle for the first time at this Pre-Covid practice. We were all unaware that this Sunday afternoon session would be the last practice for a long time because of Governor Wolf’s Covid-19 mandate. Many stores, schools, job sites and facilities were closed to all person-to-person activities until further notice.

Now, as of June 4, 2020 the health regulations have begun to relax and the Team has started back with their “Outdoor Practices” scheduled for 3 times a week.  They have some catching up to do!

Check out the new Penn’s Woods Foundation Brochure. Donations received go directly to support area Youth Shooting Sports Programs and are Tax Deductible.

This Tri-Fold brochure will be used in a Fund Raising effort to better prepare new shooters for introduction into this competitive sport.

The Jerome JR Rifle Team traveled to the Palmyra Sportsmen’s Range again for the 21^st Annual Palmyra Invitational on January 19, 2020. This was the Team’s second appearance at the popular range this month. The building is a large structure and the property covers some 200 acres. The Team was happy it was indoors.

Takes more than one person to haul all the necessary shooting gear into the facility. Coach Rininger drove his big white van loaded with gear and Nicole, Abby and Maryssa were on board.

This wide-ranging competition attracted individual shooters and rifle teams from all over PA and other states including Virginia, Georgia, New Hampshire, and as far away as Alaska.

This group from Virginia was just about to finish when we arrived. Ruby noticed the young woman in the center of photo was shooting the same FWB rifle that she has. It was the first time we saw any other shooter with this 2800 model. The entrance area  was a bit crowded.

The Invitational is open to all shooters, plus members of the USA Shooting organization and the PA Rifle and Pistol Association. In addition, the NRA Intercollegiate Sectionals match was also held in conjunction with this event.

The Jerome Team had recently shot an event at this outstanding facility back on January 4^th. With that previous experience under their belts, the team was very comfortable shooting at this electronic system known as the SIUS system.

These targets are not made of paper, but a shots are fired at a projected bulls-eye screen that has powered lifts to position the target box height to the shooters preferences. The competitors each have a laptop to see their hits and the score of every shot.

Nearly 300 competitors were scheduled to shoot and the place was pretty crowded. The Team’s scores were well in the upper half of all shooters and Coach Rininger was pleased with their results.

Bulls Eye for Maryssa.

The results are posted on the Palmyra Sportsmen’s Association website and you can click on the link to see all the scores. Nice Bull Nick.

Haley above with a Bull and Bulls Eye Barron. Ruby’s Bull below.

Parents and spectators drove to the Hershey area that morning to be ready to sign in at 3:00pm. The event lasted until about 8:30 so it was a long day for the shooters and those driving back home.

It’s tough to get a Family Shot during the match, so when it concludes you must hurry to get people organized for a few quick shots. Photos that is. Abby is packed up for the move to Air Rifle.

When the 22 caliber shooting is complete the team loads up for a move to the Air Rifle range located in the basement of the club. Then the Air Rifles are uncased. This is a Standing only event, shot at 25 feet and using the SIUS Electronic Target computer system.

Coach Rininger was getting advice from his daughter, Nicole.

Sierra was doing an impression of the Statue of Liberty, for Good Luck?

The Dad’s had a travel conference during the Air Rifle Competition. This was the planning session on how to depart the range and get back to the PA Turnpike before the snow squall hits.

Our Team member, Elissa Barron, has recently been named top female shooter in the state of Pennsylvania.

Barron was presented with the Pennsylvania State Woman’s Champion 2019 Award in the National Rifle Association 3 position smallbore outdoor rifle competition.

Elissa won with a high score of 2154-40x out of a field of more than 100 competitors. The outdoor matches are really tough, it’s an all day event and shooters can get tired, bug-bitten, hungry and hot.

Barron is a member of the Jerome Sportsmen’s Club Junior Rifle Team that competed in a series of matches sanctioned by the PA Rifle Pistol Association Inc. The competitions were conducted at the Murrysville Sportsman’s Club outdoor range during the 2019 season.

In this event, the bulls-eye targets are positioned at a distance of 50 yards and competitors fire from the standing, kneeling and prone positions. The Team sets up their targets and after shooting hand over to the Range Master.

The 22 caliber rifles used in this event are equipped with open sights. The spotting scopes are used only to check the targets.

In addition to the PA State honor, Elissa shot the high score last weekend at the PA Junior Olympic Air Rifle competition trials held at the Palmyra Sportsman’s Association Indoor Range near Hershey, PA. There she shot a 568-26x in the J2 division.

Barron is a sophomore at North Star High School and is also a member of the North Star Rifle Team where she is a consistent top five shooter at the high school level.

Elissa is the daughter of Scott and Tricia Barron of Hooversville, PA.

Congratulations Elissa! That was a great job and good luck in your future competitions. The Jerome Team, our Coach and your parents are all proud of your accomplishment.

The Jerome Junior Rifle Team traveled to the Hershey area to participate in the Palmyra Sportsman’s Association Invitational Small-bore and Air Rifle Match on January 4, 2020 in Annville PA.

Teams and individual shooters from High Schools and Colleges, from all over the state, compete at this outstanding facility. About 300 shooters are registered for this well-known winter competition.

The Palmyra Sportsman’s Association facility is a rambling structure complete with indoor rifle, handgun and archery ranges. Outside there are other shooting ranges for 3-D Archery, Trap Shooting, Steel Plate Action Handgun, Sporting  Clays and a High Power Rifle range. The Archery Tournament was in progress at the same time.

The group shot above was taken at our Home Range at the Jerome Sportsmen’s Association Indoor Range. Space is limited at away matches for photography team photos like this.

The Small-bore/Air Rifle events are the pathway to the Junior Olympics. Several past members of our Jerome Team have been invited and have participated in Colorado at the Junior Olympic Trials there.

The Jerome Team is made up of high school students from Conemaugh Twp, North Star, Shanksville, Somerset and Windber.

Setting up before the competition begins is all fun and games.

While other members of the Team chat about the event, Nick is all business. This is a mental game and concentration is important.

Each shooter has a laptop to see every shot and their own score.

Out of 42 shooters during the event, our team member’s targets were very competitive and scores ranged into the mid 550’s. Our top shot, Elissa Barron of North Star, earned a First Place in the Air Rifle (J2) Competition with her score of 568. She is above with her Air Rifle.

Jerome team members, Nick Mader, Ruby Korenoski and Gillian Berloffe on the Air Rifle range.  Ruby Korenoski of Conemaugh Twp earned a second place in the Small-bore 22 Rifle (J2) Competition with her score of 556.

Coach Rininger explains the electronic scoring system to Gillian and Ruby. Spectators could log into the system and watch the scores advance in real-time. No need for paper targets here. See below.

Coach Barry Rininger was very please with the overall team performance at this event. Rininger notes that even the best shooters have to contend with the pressures of shooting in a new facility, with electronic targets and against College level competitors.

Coach Rininger added, “All these elements can affect a shooters comfort level and they have to work hard to keep their composure throughout these matches. They did a fine job and our kids are always improving their individual scores.” It looks easy, but don’t bet on out shooting these kids. This takes sharp eyes and a steady hand.

Vicki Berloffe took a few group shots of some of the team. Below are more photos fro the Palmyra Invitational Small-bore Event.

The Jerome Team Finally got their Individual Back Tags delivered thanks to Scott and Angel Mader. They took the half-done materials to Acorn Tree embroidery in Hooversville and Donna got them done just in time for this match.  The Jerome team recommends Acorn Tree! Sienna quickly put her new Team Logo and name tag on.

Mike and Abby Knapp were happy to attend this competition.

 

The Jerome Junior Rifle Team is preparing for the 2020 Tournament Season. Good Luck in the New Year!

The Team will be headed to Palmyra, PA for a State-wide event this Saturday, January 4, 2020. The 9 member Team, Coaches and parents will be making the journey to the Harrisburg area. We will be posting the results of the competition soon.

The Jerome Junior Rifle Team holds practice sessions during the summer months at the Jerome Sportsmen’s Association outdoor range. These shots are from May and June 2019.

The Team has many volunteers to help set up equipment, targets, backstops, scopes, stands and ammo.

Some parents are not as strong as Scott. More gear , less trips.

All targets have to be signed and marked for Prone, Standing and Kneeling positions. The small black dog is Bruno, Team Mascot.

Once all the targets are in place and Bruno, the Mascot, is in a safety zone the shooting can begin.

Those 50 yard bulls eyes fit right into that front sight lens. This takes a steady hand and a sharp eye. Like Nick.

Haley is focused in on her Bulls Eye.

Abby’s going for Tens.

Jillian is rock steady on her kneeling position.

Checking targets with the help of Bruno, the Rifle Team Mascot. This photo is from a May Practice when Bruno was just a pup.

The Jerome Team is made up of High School students from Conemaugh Twp, North Star, Windber, Somerset and Shanksville. The two above are Indians.

The Jerome Outdoor Range has target backstops at 25, 50 and 100 yards. Members have a gate key for access to the outdoor range.  For information about becoming a member of the Jerome Club , you can attend a meeting on the 2nd. Wednesday of each month.

Checking and setting up new targets is good exercise at the 50 yard distance. For extra exercise Nicole  is  chasing Bruno off the shooting range .

Bruno has Mascot competition from time to time.

Somerset, North Star and Windber High School students are all competitive shooters.

The Jerome Rifle Team had a Big Match at the Murrysville Rifle Club on Saturday May 18, 2019. This was an Outdoor, 50-yard event. The Team shot about triple the amount of targets as they do in a regular High School indoor match. There were 20 shooters registered at this event and it was scheduled to be a daylong shoot.

Our Team was very excited about shooting in this competition, but we had to be there by 7:00am. It was great that Coach Knapp and Coach Rininger were going to be there at 6:00 to begin cooking us breakfast. The Coaches say you can’t shoot well on an empty stomach.

The two Dads had the kitchen set-up with bacon, sausage, pancakes, cheese & egg omelets and burgers all cooking on the griddle and the BBQ. Plus, they had drinks, coffee, cake and cookies.

Our Head Coach, Mr. Marisa, gave the team a lecture about safety, shooting and range rules and a general pep talk. He’s a humorous guy when he’s coaching, but he tells us to be all serious when the shooting starts.

Outdoor matches are really different than our indoor shoots. The shooting areas here are totally different than our home field. So, we have to adjust for the wind, sun angle, temperature, bugs, noise, rain and fog.

Getting our gear ready for the first round of targets. Some shooters were still eating breakfast foods. We have to hang targets, too.

It’s a nice break for shooters to walk out the targets, 50 yards away. This gives us a chance to talk to our team and the other competitors from other clubs. We change targets and submit them to the scorekeepers. Shooters all try to evaluate their shot groups through their spotting scopes, but it’s better to see the target holes up close.

At the start of the morning match it was a cool 50 degrees, with a just a sprinkle of rain. By afternoon it was hot, about 70 degrees. Just putting on the leather and canvas shooting clothes was a chore.

This wide open grassy area was full of gnats and mosquitoes as the sun heated up the range. That’s not a problem during the Indoor Season.

The Bulls Eyes on the 50 yard range seem really small.

Parents and other spectators are welcome at all the Shooting Competitions.

The Range Master and Time Keeper collects the targets and posts the results in the Main Club House.

The Team is always serious about their individual scores, but it’s a fun event too.

The Coaches insist that the Team must eat well, so the Lunches are more than a picnic.

There is a lot of interesting history concerning this club and it has a unique past. The Murrysville Club was founded in 1944. The members organized this shooting range during midst of World War II. There is an original framed plaque on the wall, from the National Rifle Association, that officially sanctioned this shooting club.

Inside the club one wall was filled with old photos of championship teams and trophies from long ago. There were newspaper clippings prize-winning teams from the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s.

The B&W photo of the ladies team was from 1954, the women were all members of the Murrysville Club. The competition the Lady shooters won was an international event with teams from England and Canada participating. It’s great to learn that these ladies accomplished such lofty shooting goals 65 years ago.

The Jerome Junior Rifle Team members May 2019.