Numerous National Records Set During 2018 National Matches Games Events
October 18, 2018
By Ashley Brugnone, CMP Writer
CAMP PERRY, Ohio – A pack of record-setters emerged during the 2018 National Matches Games events in August. The John C. Garand Match alone saw new overall, junior and senior records, while the Vintage Military Match also established new scores in the junior and senior categories.
The Games are facilitated by the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) and feature a variety of vintage and modern military rifle competitions. Read ahead to learn more about the noteworthy performances of each 2018 National Matches Games event.
John C. Garand:
Brad Diehl, 42, of Corunna, IN, earned the top spot and a new National Record in the National John C. Garand Match, with a score of 294-9x. Also firing a new National Record was Mark Stout II, 20, of Waterford, MI, with a High Junior score of 292-10x. The score was enough to earn him third place overall in the match. As if that wasn’t enough, Danny Gray, 69, of Manassas, VA, set a new High Senior record of 293-7x and received the runner-up spot behind Diehl.
Modern Military:
In the Modern Military event, CPT William Richardson, 28, of Wilsonville, AL, fired a score of 298-12x for the overall win – cleaning the first two stages and dropping only two points in the slow-fire standing portion. High Junior of the match was Collin Williams, 20, of Granby, MA, while Larry Stonecipher, 66, of Ada, OK, took home the High Senior honor.
Springfield:
Leading the Springfield Match was Farrell Porter, 52, of Pontiac, IL, with a score of 292-10x. High Junior of the event was Mark Stout II, who was also received the title in the Garand, Carbine and Springfield M1A events. High Senior was Greg Hill, 62, of Valley City, OH, as CPO Franco Scarpino nabbed the High Garand Senior honor. Scarpino was also High Garand Senior of the Modern Military and Garand matches.
Vintage Military:
Matthew Slocum, 37, of Springfield, PA, fired the overall score of 290-9x in the Vintage Military event – just four points shy of the National Record set at last year’s National Matches. Making the record board was Dustin Carr, 17, of San Diego, CA, with High Junior score of 283-7x, and Larry Stonecipher, of Ada, OK, who fired a score of 289-7x for the High Senior record and a third place finish overall.
3-Gun and 4-Gun Aggregate:
Earning the 3-Gun Aggregate award for combined Springfield, Vintage Military and Garand matches was Sean Leighton, 55, of Enola, PA, with a score of 857-19x. Leighton beat out 4-Gun Award winner Brian Williams, 44, of Granby, MA, by just one point. Williams also won the 4-Gun Agg. at the 2017 National Matches, when he set a new Vintage Military record that had stood since 2010. He bettered his winning score in the 4-Gun event this year by 87 points, with an overall score of 1146-25x.
Vintage Sniper:
Winning the Manual Vintage Sniper event was Hard Leg 6 (Terrence McCoy and Joseph McDonald, with a score of 393-16x. The semi-auto team of father/son duo John Mitchell and John Mitchell (Owasippe Scouts) pulled out the win in the class by only two x’s, with a score of 368-8x. The pair also won the semi-auto class during last year’s Vintage Sniper competition.
M1 Carbine:
Winning the National Carbine event was Daniel Fiora, 64, of Charleston, WV, with a score of 369-6x. Fiora bested last year’s winner and current Carbine National Record holder Mark Stout of Waterford, MI, by x-count. Following close behind in third place was Stout’s son, Mark Stout II, with a new National Record score of 368-6x. With his score, the young Stout claimed the High Junior honor for the third year. High Senior of the event was George Brennan, 75, of Baldwin, MD, who landed in fourth place overall.
Rimfire Sporter:
The National Rimfire Sporter match fired on Sunday, July 22, with a total of 273 entries throughout the day. The match is meant to be an introduction to competition shooting, gathering both adults and juniors on the firing line with an engaging Course of Fire from 50 and 25 yards, using .22 rifles. Three separate classes of rifle are held during the event, including the O-Class (open-sighted rifles), T-Class (telescopic rifles) and Tactical.
Winning the O-Class was CSM Steven Slee, 54, of the U.S. Army Reserve, with a score of 588. Slee is the current National Record holder in the class, with a score of 594-23x he set back in 2016. He cleared the win by more than 10 points above second place finisher Sam Payne, 19, of Kingston, GA, who earned the High Junior title for the fourth straight year.
Thomas Dean, 64, of Perry, MI, landed in third place in the class and received the title of High Senior. Marissa Bensch, 18, of Stillwater, OK, was the High 4-H competitor of the class and fired a score of 572 to earn the fourth place spot overall. High Woman of the class was Amy Trombley, 53, of Canton, MI, for the second consecutive year.
In the T-Class, Larry Kindell, 58, of Tawas City, MI, and Sam Payne were both named the overall winners after firing tie scores of 593. Payne is the current National Record holder in the class with his score of 599-46x. Corissa Cornkite, 16, of Clyde, NC, earned the High Junior distinction, while Roger Burdick, 62, of Conneaut, OH, was High Senior. High Woman of the class was Jean Redicker, 54, of Vallonia, IN, as Rachel Slizewski, 17, of Commerce, GA, was named the High 4-H Juinior competitor.
David Zwingman, 48, of Saginaw, MI, and Peter Yarbro, 43, of Mishawaka, IN, also received joint overall wins in the Tactical Class after firing tie scores of 588. High Junior of the Tactical class was Davis Sodders, 19, of Baltimore, OH, as Frank Holtzhauer, 69, of Columbus, OH, earned the Senior title. Miki Marciniak, 61, of Macomb, MI, was High Woman of the event.
For a complete list of results, visit http://ct.thecmp.org/app/v1/index.php?do=match&task=edit&match=15053&tab=results.
Photos of all of the National Matches events can be found on the CMP Zenfolio page: http://cmp1.zenfolio.com/f817385512
Search for upcoming local CMP Games matches at http://ct.thecmp.org/app/v1/index.php?do=matchRegistrationListUpcoming&filter=designation&filter_value=GARAND.