WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, 2017   ■   YOUTH PROGRAMS

Pierre, SD Junior Shooter BB Gun Team Takes Gold

Rogers, AR – At the end of the 2017 Daisy National BB Gun Championship Match it was the team from Pierre, S.D., that took the stage to accept gold medals and the traveling first place trophy in front of the largest crowd in the history of the event. The Pierre Junior Shooters, coached by Jonathan Hays, are the 52nd Gold Medal winners in this, the most prestigious 5-meter BB Gun match in the world.

The team, which includes the 2017 Individual Aggregate Gold Medalist Justin Merriman, amassed a score of 2,383-85X. In winning the Individual Aggregate Gold Medal, Merriman scored 489-27X. Team members include: Jenna Kruger, Austin Lesmann, Natalie Mohr and Rylie Stoeser.

The Daisy National BB Gun Championship Match is held annually at the John Q. Hammons Convention Center is Rogers, Ark., and brings together the best BB Gun shooters ages 8-15 from across the nation. Teams must qualify for the event by coming in first, second or third in a state match.

This year's Match, which was conducted June 30-July 3, featured 71 teams and brought nearly 3,000 shooters, former champions, coaches and parents to Northwest Arkansas. Teams came from as far away as Georgia, Oregon and Virginia. Any community or educational organization can form a team as long as it follows the curriculum outlined by Daisy, which features hours of classroom gun-safety and education work prior to ever touching a gun. Many teams are created through the 4-H Shooting Sports Program, but religious organizations such as the Royal Rangers also participate.

As always, the 52nd annual event featured plenty of fun, action and emotion beyond the shooting competition. The Barter Bar, in which competitors bring items representing their states (which can include everything from homemade crafts and wildlife-related items to cans of "Potted Possum" meat and professional sports jerseys) and swap them amongst the crowd.

Other events include a Parade of Teams in which each team wears costumes or coordinated clothing, this year including the complete cast of SpongeBob SquarePants and a Black Ops team. The Match also includes a Painted Gun contest. Each competitor in the main event and the Champions Match must shoot the Daisy 499B Champion BB Gun, the most-accurate BB Gun in the world, and may decorate it any way they choose. Many guns look as sharp as sports cars or follow a particular theme.

One of the most-touching moments occurred when former Individual Aggregate Champion and Olympic Shooter Lydia Paterson presented an honor plaque to her coach and father, Ron Paterson, who is retiring from coaching. Moments later, Lydia was inducted into the Daisy Hall of Fame, an honor that goes to those who have positively influenced the shooting sports and the Daisy Nationals.

For a complete list of winners in the 2017 Daisy National BB Gun Championship Match, go tohttp://www.orionresults.com/team/MatchPage.aspx?MatchID=1.2138.745830302.1. For more information on the event and instructions on how to create a team to compete in this exciting match, go t www.daisy.com.

About Daisy Outdoor Products…
At more than 130 years old, Daisy Outdoor Products is America's oldest and leading maker of BB guns, air rifles and pistols, air rifle ammo and accessories. The company produces the most extensive product line of youth air guns, appropriate for ages 10 and older under adult supervision. Daisy's shooting education curriculum is widely used by organizations that promote and teach gun safety and marksmanship. The company's prestigious Daisy National BB Gun Championship Match, held each summer in the company's home town of Rogers, Ark., is the largest 5-meter BB gun match in the country, attracting thousands of youth shooters from nearly every state.