BROOKINGS A squad of South Dakota sharpshooters fired their way to first place in air pistol marksmanship at this years 4-H Shooting Sports National Championships.
Teadon Seaboy a junior at Brookings High School this fall teamed up with Caden Chelmo of Brule County, Riley Spatz of Roberts County and Ella Hanson of Lake County to represent South Dakota at the June 22-27 competition in Grand Island, Nebraska.
We got along really well, Seaboy said. Its weird, because these are kids from different counties who you view as competition but it wasnt a huge transition for me, because I knew my score would help my team. I dont care so much how I placed individually as much as how we performed as a team.
Seaboy also had to cope with a gun malfunction. Nichole Gann was chief air pistol range officer at nationals.
The South Dakota air pistol team received a backup pistol from the Washington air pistol team, Gann said. Sharing a pistol with a competing team was a true testament to the youth involvedin the program and their values. I doubt there are many national events where someone would lend equipment to a competitor.
Seaboy said shooting with an unfamiliar pistol was challenging.
When I couldnt shoot my gun properly, it was really scary, she said. With different guns, theres ways you have to hold it and sight-wise aim differently. So shooting with this gun Im just trying to get more comfortable with it.
Teams require between three and four shooters.
If you have a team of four, they just take your top three scores to make it fair for the teams that only have three, Seaboy said. On our last day, my two teammates Caden and Ella did really well. Caden got a 364. Ella got a 357. My score (339) was the last one. But my score that last day was enough to be the one that counted. That was pretty awesome.
Compounding the drama, a miscalculation led to judges briefly giving South Dakota the runner-up award.
Our teammates parents and families were doing the math and saying, They should get first place, Seaboy said. The first time (the judges) announced it, we got second place and Colorado beat us. But while they were announcing the other divisions scores, the judges were like, We need all the team awards back. So once theyd gone through the announcements, they called all the disciplines back up and we ended up getting first place, beating Colorado. It was really an amazing feeling.
The competition featured 730 youth from 40 states, shooting in nine different disciplines. Seaboy said it was a learning experience.
Ive learned to be more patient, she said. You learn to be more confident, saying to yourself, I know my gun, I know how it shoots, I know how to stand and I can share that with others. You can help others become better shooters as well.
She encourages other girls to get involved in the male-dominated sport.
Do it. Theres really nothing to lose, Seaboy said. I love being a girly girl in the sport, wearing bedazzled jeans with a pink gun and a pink backpack just to show women can do the same thing men can. Even if you dont place individually or as a team,just knowing you got this far beating all the odds being a woman in a mans sport is a powerful feeling.
She plans to keep shooting and has her sights set on a lofty target.
Id love to go to the Olympics, Seaboy said. I just found out last summer while watching the Olympics that air pistol is a summer Olympic sport. That would be awesome being a girl from a small town in South Dakota going to the Olympics.
Contact Jay Roe at [email protected].
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