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Broten on air rifle team in national meetBy Joel Stottrup It is not unusual to shoot an air rifle but 14-year-old Nick Broten of Princeton can shoot one particularly well. Nick, who has been competing with an air rifle for about 18 months, was on the air rifle team of four shooters that won the Minnesota State championship April 20 in Anoka and then placed 14th out of 34 teams in the national competition June 22 in Atlanta. The team was in the junior category of 18 and under and competed against club-sponsored teams. The other junior division is the scholastic one where teams come from schools that have shooting programs. A team from Pennsylvania won in Nick's competition, while an Alaskan team won in the junior scholastic event. Nick's fellow team members are Colin Blahut, 14, of Anoka, Chelsey Thomas, 16, of St. Michael and Jennie Fladebo, 18, of Mora. "We did very well compared to what we thought we'd do," Nick said last week. "We really didn't know." The way air rifle competition works is that each competitor must shoot 20 rounds each in three different positions - prone, kneeling and standing. The distance from the target is 10 meters and the diameter of the bull's-eye is like the point on a mechanical pencil lead. While the targets at state level are made of paper, the national level has electronic targets and the points come down to tenths. A monitor next to the shooting position shows how the shooter has done after each shot. The maximum points possible is 600 and Broten scored 527 at the state meet. The national meet was over two days and his scores there were 557 and 558. Broten belongs to the Minneapolis Rifle Club and that club hosted the state rifle championship competition with the American Legion in Anoka. Broten enrolled in a junior training program through his club last December to improve his skill. He said the formation of his team came naturally, explaining that the best shooters are going to want to be on the same team. Broten's father, Duane, who was with Nick during an interview, agreed. Duane and Nick credited Larry Sawyer, the team coach, for also helping Nick improve. Sawyer, of Andover, had gone to the national rifle meet a week before to compete in the 50-meter small bore (.22 caliber) and then stayed for the air rifle competition the next week. Nick has also been coached by Bob Foth from the Colorado Springs, Colo., area. The Brotens noted that Foth was a silver medalist in air rifle shooting in the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996. Duane says he encouraged his son to take up the air rifle sport. Duane walks with difficulty now from injuries he received in an accident while riding a mountain bike. He explained that he once was very active, having reached the master, or top level, in pistol shooting and had excelled in mountain bike racing. As Duane talked about what goes into the air rifle sport, he said that the first thing needed is a good quality rifle. When Nick went to his first match he used his father's old break-action, Weihrauch air rifle. The match was a 4-H event at the Minnesota Shooting Sports Education Center in Grand Rapids, which the Brotens consider "probably the third-best range in the nation" for the sport. "When I got to the range I wasn't shooting real good," Nick said, explaining that he then borrowed an air rifle at the range and felt that it helped his shooting. Since then, Nick has purchased a $1,500 Walther LG300 Alutec air rifle. It operates with compressed air stored in a chamber that is filled from a scuba diving air tank and is good for 350 shots. The rifle has a multiposition adjustable stock, adjustable hand stop, has no recoil and is very precise, the Brotens said. Nick realized from his first meet that he wanted to compete again but needed to improve a lot. He was to do six more matches and complete a lot of training sessions before going to the state competition. Besides having good equipment, Nick said, the shooter has to practice a lot and must be "very steady, calm, focused and concentrated." As some might guess, the most difficult position to shoot from is standing. Nick said he has learned just how to control his breathing for maximum steadiness during competition. What does Nick like about the sport? "The thrill of competition," he answered, saying it's "fun to beat people." Nick's short-range goal is to get to the national meet again next year and shoot over 570. His long-range goal is to get an air rifle scholarship to attend a college that has that as a competitive sport. Princeton Union-Eagle |