National title for Mary's Harbour marksman

Mary's Harbour Junior Canadian Ranger (JCR) Daniel Johnson couldn't miss.

"First place. Perfect score. Three hundred out of 300," he said. "That was pretty good."

The 15-year old won first place in the JCR National Marksmanship Competition (NMC) held at 5 Wing-Goose Bay May 22 and 23.

"I was breathing pretty heavily shooting," he said.

Do you have a knack for hitting the target?

"Maybe. I hope so."

The patrol, featuring Rangers from Lodge Bay, Mary's Harbour and St. Lewis, earned its shot at the nationals after finishing first in the provincial competition, which was also held in Goose Bay, last month.

The national event was broken up into the individual competition on the first day and the team competition the second day, featuring teams from across Canada.

The matches involved firing at biathlon boxes and shatterblast targets 10 to 15 feet away from different positions (prone, sitting, standing and kneeling) using a Daisy 853C Air Rifle.

Mr. Johnson's team - consisting of Nicholas Cumby and Paula Russell, both of Mary's Harbour, and Ocean King and Jerome Bradley, both of St. Lewis - won second in the team competition, behind Nunavut.

"We didn't get first for the team (event), that's all right though," Mr. Johnson said. "Still did really good."

Mr. Cumby and Mr. Bradley finished in third and fourth place in the individual competition after being tied with four other shooters at 290 points.

Ms. King, 13, said competing at the NMC was a thrill.

"That competition allowed us to meet people from all over Canada, different cultures, languages," she said.

"I'm glad they got the program up and running so that we can have the opportunity to do this kind of stuff. The JCRs is a good program for anybody to have, and it gets you involved with a lot of people; I met a lot of people."

Mr. Johnson agreed.

"It's definitely one of the best programs I've ever been in," he said. "There's so much to do, many opportunities and lots of fun."

Upon returning to the southeast coast, the patrol was welcomed home by fans and a barbeque.

They also touched down in Port Hope Simpson and St. Lewis, Mr. Johnson added.

"We got greeted by a lot of JCRs, flags, posters, banners and everything, it was great - famous for one day," he said. "It was a lot of fun, a lot of really good food."

He's going to continue training, he added.

"I'm planning on getting my own rifle and continue training for next year."