Beyerle 5th woman to win smallbore title at Nationals
8/3/2004Jamie Beyerle, a 20-year-old sharpshooter from Lebanon, Pa., has become only the fifth woman since 1919 to win the national smallbore or .22 prone rifle championship at the National Matches at Camp Perry.
Beyerle fired an impressive 5591-428X out of a possible 5600 to edge U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Tamas of Pittsview, Ala., who fired a 5590-454X. (The X-score refers to the tally of center-shot bull's-eyes and is used to break ties). The prone matches usually total 6,400 points, but two 400-point matches had to be canceled this year because of winds and rain.
"To win, she had to shoot a perfect 1600 on her last 160 shots, and she did," said Joe Roberts, a spokesman for the Matches. Beyerle competes with the rifle team at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, where she will be a junior this fall.
In addition to the national overall prone title, earned from among a field of 288 shooters, Beyerle also collected the women's, civilian and junior champion titles.
Beyerle finished second in the metallic-sight portion of the prone matches, but collected the women's title there and outscored her college coach, former Army marskman Glenn Dubis. She fired a 2393-171X, just behind Tamas' winning 2395-184X. Dubis, third, fired 2393-168X.
In earlier competition, Beyerle was runner-up champion in the overall national smallbore three-position matches, though she was champion in the metallic-sight event at 1118-25X.
For all her titles and trophies, Beyerle's performance at the matches is a mite bittersweet. She came to Camp Perry after a season that included a world championship, fired in Thailand, and a third overall in the NCAA rifle and air rifle championships. But she narrowly missed qualifying for the U.S. Olympic rifle team.
"Missing the Olympic team is disappointing," Beyerle said. "But I have time and 2008 is just four years off. I'm already working on a trip to Beijing."
An area competitor, Kevin Nevius of Gibsonburg, finished third in the smallbore prone any-sight championship, firing a 3199-279X out of a possible 3200.
Carolyn Millard-Sparks, of Dunwoody, Ga., won the event with a 3200-280X. Beyerle fired a 3198-257X.
The national matches continue with high-power rifle competition, which begins today and continues through Aug. 16. The matches are open to visitors. Camp Perry is on State Rt. 2 west of Port Clinton
Fishing report: Western Lake Erie walleye action was slow for casters over the weekend because of lack of a drifting breeze, but trollers were doing well with spoons and Jet Divers or Wiggle Warts and Hot 'N Tots off planer boards.
Yellow perch are being taken around the Toledo Harbor Light as well, said Rick Ferguson at Al Szuch Live Bait. Smallmouth bass fishing has been most active on the Canadian side of the border north of the Bass Islands.
Early reports from western Lake Ontario show an excellent fishing season is under way there for salmon and steelhead, with mostly king or chinook salmon in the box, taken just three to five miles offshore. Kings are ranging 17 to 25 pounds.
DATEBOOK
Tonight: Public trap and skeet shooting, 6-11, Camp Perry Shooting Club, Camp Perry, State Rt. 2 west of Port Clinton, repeats Thursday 6-11 p.m. and Sunday noon-6 p.m.; call the club, 419-635-2682; also, tomorrow, instructional shotgun clinic for women, 6 p.m., Camp Perry Shooting Club, at Camp Perry, State Rt. 2, west of Port Clinton; free program, equipment supplied, sponsored by the National Rifle Association's Women on Target program; to register call Keith Bailer, 419-929-0307.
Tomorrow: Public trapshoot, 4-8 p.m., Elmore Conservation Club, Portage River Road South, just west of State Rt. 590; new remote wireless trap activators, call Terry Schuetz, 419-691-5506; also, Sunday, public trapshoot, 1-6 p.m.
Thursday: Program on bio-diesel fuel from farms, 6:30 p.m., Oak Openings Preserve Metropark, lodge; also, Friday and Saturday, family wigwam camping, 7 p.m. Friday to noon Saturday, Oak Openings, Buehner Center, call to register, 419-535-3057 extension 145; also, Saturday, nature photography shoot, butterflies, 9 a.m., Oak Openings, lodge; call to register 419-829-6866; also, dragonfly program, 1 p.m., Oak Openings, Wilkins Road and Wabash Cannonball Trail; also, Sunday family nature program, 2 p.m., Swan Creek Preserve Metropark, Yager Center; call to register, 419-535-3057 extension 101.
Thursday: Trapshoot, 6 p.m., Sandusky County Sportsmen's Club, State Rt. 600 east of Gibsonburg; also, Saturday, .22 silhouette shoot; call Bob Caswall, 419-862-2861.
Thursday through Sunday: Central Zone ATA Trapshoot, Jaqua's Trap Club, 900 East Bigelow Ave., Findlay; call the club 419-422-0912.
Saturday: Monarch butterfly egg hunt, 11 a.m., Butterfly House, 11455 Obee Rd., Whitehouse; call the House, 419-877-2733.
Saturday: Southwestern Lake Erie Chapter, Waterfowl USA, waterfowl calling seminar/fund-raiser, 10 a.m., 9885 Grodi Rd., Erie, Mich., pig-roast lunch, goose calling with Shawn Stahl, 2000 world champion and George Lynch, 2000 Michigan champion, duck calling with Kelly Gadus, three-time Michigan champion and northern regional champion; call Joe Robison 734-848-3497 or 734-379-7430.
Saturday: Birds of prey live raptor display, noon, day lodge, Mary Jane Thurston State Park, State Rt. 65 west of Grand Rapids; also, prairie garden program, 4 p.m., nature center, Van Buren State Park, State Rt. 613 east of I-75 north of Findlay; for either program call 419-832-7662.
Saturday: Fulton County Chapter, Ducks Unlimited, summer sizzler,
5:30 p.m., Valleywood clubhouse, Airport Highway, Swanton.
Saturday: Sandusky River water-quality monitoring, 10 a.m., Wolf Creek Park canoe launch, State Rt. 53 south of Fremont; call the Sandusky County Park District to register, 419-334-4495 or 1-888-200-5577.
Saturday and Sunday: Mudjaw Bowmen campers' weekend, 6240 Benore Rd., Saturday 30 3-D targets traditional shoot but compounds and dealers welcome; Sunday 30 3-D targets, dealers welcome; call Rocky Warner, 419-474-9492.
Saturday and Sunday: Rare-species festival, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, Kitty Todd Preserve, 10420 Old State Line Rd., guided hikes 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, call The Nature Conservancy, 419-867-1521.
Sunday: Toledo Muzzle Loaders, No Bull Shoot, 11 a.m., Clinton Boothby Memorial Range, 875 Schwamberger Rd.; call Rich Hulsebus, 419-474-6666.
Sunday: Black Swamp Bird Observatory, volunteer picnic, 1:30 p.m., Carroll Township Hall, just off State Rt. 19 north of Oak Harbor; call BSBO 419-898-4070.
Monday through Aug. 13: Kids fish free week, Lake Erie Charter Boat Association, Port Clinton area charters, for details call LECBA 1-800-932-9116.
Monday through Aug. 11: Safe- boating course, 6 to 9 p.m. nightly, Ottawa Park Nature Center, call 419-936-3848.