Air Rifle Chronicle Feature
In the 2025-2026 season of Air Rifle, not only has the varsity team gone 15-0 thus far, but a school record has been broken twice! The record broken was for the highest score of all three shooting positions: standing, prone, and kneeling. Previously, the school record set by Lucy Evans was 296, only four points away from the maximum score of 300. However, this year Maggie Sheffield beat that score with a 297, only to be followed once again by Lucy Evans with a 298. Both of these shooters are at the top of the team and have qualified for state multiple times. The other varsity team members include Lucas Gibson (senior), Bryson Newport (junior), Chance Vanpelt (sophomore), and Emma Daughdrill (freshman).
Before we continue, what exactly is Air Rifle? Besides knowing it’s a shooting sport, many people do not know much about it. In Air Rifle, you shoot from three positions: standing, prone, and kneeling. Standing is considered the hardest position to shoot, followed by kneeling and then prone. While kneeling and standing are self-explanatory, prone is where you lie on your stomach and shoot from there. In each position, you shoot two targets for practice, called sighters, and ten targets for scoring. These ten targets are worth 100 points in total. When counting your final score, you add the three positions’ scores together, meaning the highest score you can get is 300. Air Rifle is a team sport, so the four highest shooters have their scores all added together for the final decision of what team wins. This means the highest possible score for an overall team is 1200.
In Air Rifle, there are time limits for everything. Each person typically has five minutes for sighters, while in kneeling, they have eight. This is because it is the first position shot in a match, so the extra time is to make sure everything is correct with the shooter’s gun. During scored targets, shooters are given ten minutes for both prone and kneeling, with fifteen on standing. Time for changeovers (the time you are given to change your set-up from one position to another) is five minutes. This means teams must shoot fast and be ready to change everything as soon as they are done.
There are six members on Cartersville High’s varsity team. This year, the team has gone undefeated with only one game left before the regional matches. The team’s highest score this year has been 1150, with a highest personal score of 298. With regionals, sectionals, and semi-finals on their way, deciding whether or not the team goes to state, they will need to practice hard and do their best in what’s to come.
