Staying on target at the NRA’s National Rifle and Pistol Championship is no easy task. It’s even trickier from three positions.
Amy Fister, however, proved she was the hot shot at Camp Perry in Port Clinton, Ohio no matter if she was standing, kneeling or prone. The high school senior captured the NRA 3-Position Rifle High Woman Title with ease.
The Kutztown, Pa., teen scored 2374 – 140x (good for 7th overall) and came away with three titles: High Woman with Metallic Sights, High Civilian with Metallic Sights and High Woman Overall.
The win left Fister ecstatic and relieved, given her history with the championship.
“Last year I was close, but not close enough,” Fister said. “I guess this year it was my time.”
Fister’s final score made her accomplishments appear easy, in actuality her titles were anything but simple. In addition to the challenges inherent to 3-position shooting, she also had some other obstacles to overcome.
One of her most testing moments came halfway through the match, just before shooting prone. Fister placed her target down range, but staggered by dehydration and fatigue she momentarily believed it was gone.
“I was delusional, seeing things,” Fister said. “After setting up my target, it wasn’t there. I started chasing down the target guy for another one. It was interesting and little bit scary.”
Fister’s accomplishments at Camp Perry are impressive in their own rights, but are made more striking given she is relatively new to competitive shooting. Following her older sister Valerie's footsteps in the sport, she picked up the shooting in 2010 when she turned 14-years-old.
Despite being a bit green when it comes to drilling bull’s eyes, Fister has had a long history with shooting in general. She was a regular in her father’s deer and goose blinds during hunting season.
“Deer and goose, that’s what we went for,” she said. “I go out deer hunting whenever I can, but it cuts into my shooting time. You’ve got to find a happy medium.”
Shooting time has become increasingly important to Fister, who has earned a shooting scholarship to the University of Memphis. But her ambitions don’t stop with the Tigers.
Fister has her eyes on Rio De Janeiro and perhaps Olympic gold.
“Now the goal is to be part of the Olympic Rifle Team in 2016,” she said. “Problem is that I don’t want my scores to drop and I don’t want my grades to drop.”
Editor's note, the NRAblog.com was the source for this article
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