The successful Ashburton College team Lanelle Millar-McArthur (from left), Emma Smith, Shania Harrison-Lee and manager/coach Steve McArthur. Photo suppliedAshburton College and Mid Canterbury have kept their shooting reputation intact after winning the teams’ event New Zealand Secondary School Championships in Palmerston North.

The team posted a score of 875.33. Shania Harrison-Lee shot 289.11, Lanelle Millar-McArthur 292.11 and Emma Smith 294.11.

They finished ahead of Wellington College in second place, and Fielding High School in third.

Team manager/coach Steve McArthur said he was extremely happy to see how the team performed.

“They have been working really hard and it is good to see that hard work has paid off,” he said.

Not only did they perform well as a team, their performances also earned all three shooters a place in the South Island team that shot against the North Island, with Smith named as captain.

They all contributed to the side defeating the North Island team 1930.77 to 1924.75.

Their efforts also earned them an extra honour, with all three selected in the New Zealand Schools team that shot in a postal match with a group of United Kingdom.

“It is the first time in my memory that three from the same team have been named to all teams,” McArthur said.

Despite it coming to the tail-end of the shooting season, McArthur, who also shoots himself and has represented the South Island and New Zealand, said the team had been putting in plenty of hours on the practice range.

“They shoot three nights a week, but there is also a lot that goes in training the mental side of it and the heart rate and physical stuff,” he said.

“It is like trying to thread a needle at the speed of sound.

“If you are off by a quarter of a centimetre that could be enough to put you in a different grade.

“It is exceptionally difficult and to do it in under pressure is really impressive.”

By Jaime Pitt-MacKay © The Ashburton Guardian - 5 October 2017