Among Mid Canterbury’s top young talent battling it out at the weekend were (back row from left) Amelia Swan, Charlotte McKenzie, Jack Jones, (front row from left) Shania Harrison-Lee, Madison Tourle and Jack McIntosh. Photo Heather MackenzieThe Coronation Target Shooting Club’s annual open championship on Sunday attracted a top field from around the South Island, but it was a young local who ended up shooting to the top.

The competition attracted 50 competitors from as far away as Oamaru and Nelson and Marlborough, and it was shot within grades – master, A, B, C and D – with each competitor completing three 10 shot matches for a possible total of 300.30.

Shania Harrison-Lee may have been one of the younger competitors, but that didn’t hold her back, with the young local finishing the day as the master grade champion and the overall top 10 champion.

She was one of 18 Target Shooting Mid Canterbury members – which encompassed the Coronation and Phoenix clubs – taking part in the competition, including six first-season competitors who all performed well.

All up, 13 Target Shooting Mid Canterbury members were placed in the top six in their respective grades.

In the D grade, Mid Canterbury juniors were in fine form, with Charlotte McKenzie winning the D grade title, with Jack McIntosh second, Amelia Swan third, Madison Tourle fifth and Jack Jones sixth.

Coronation’s open championship took place in the heat of the South Island qualifying season, with the South Island selectors set to name their teams for the annual national shoot – the North versus South shoot which would this year be held in Wellington in August – in just over two weeks.

That competition will double as the New Zealand team selection match and a number of Target Shooting Mid Canterbury members were currently in a position to earn national honours.

Harrison-Lee is no stranger to representative honours in the indoor version of the sport, but she had also recently been named in the New Zealand women’s 50m prone team to compete at the Oceania Games in Australia in November.

She was also one of a number of Mid Canterbury shooters who claimed a top six finish at the Canterbury Championships on Saturday.

By Erin Tasker © The Ashburton Guardian - 19 June 2019