Around 40 shooters from across South Australia gathered on ANZAC Day at the Mount Barker Rifle Range to shoot the annual “Fathers’ and Sons’” competition, during which, shooting was paused for a commemorative service to remember those men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in our defence forces, as well as to pay tribute to those comrades in the shooting movement who have died over the past year. The weather was an almost perfect Autumn day, overcast and cool but punctuated by patches of warm sunshine, and made for mostly pleasant shooting conditions, with the wind varying from the left in a way that is synonymous with Mount Barker’s gully range.
The main trophies competed for on the day are the parent/child off rifle trophies for each discipline. This year in TR the Stein Shield was won by Phil Bradshaw and Lynlee Lowe with 159.18, just ahead of Mount Gambier pair, Kym and Duncan Muller on 158.22, thanks to a double possible from Lynlee. The Frank Bradshaw Memorial Trophy for the top F-Standard pair went to Peter and Riley Walker, finishing on 181.05, ahead of Kerren and Alyce Neale on 178.08. While the Braund Family Shield for the top F-Open combinations went to Riley Whant and Dad Cameron, with 187.09, ahead of sibling Liam’s pairing with Cameron of 185.12.
There are many other pairing combinations across the day, many using conversion tables to combine disciplines. These include the Sarre Cup for the top handicap pairs, this year won by mother-daughter pair, Lynlee and Jessica Lowe, and the Chairman’s Trophy for the self-handicapped pairs, won by father-son combination, Frank and Frank O. Pinyon.
These families also featured in the In-Laws Shield, where Lynlee Lowe and Brad Hajek won this year, and the Bill James Trophy for leading Grandparent-Grandchild combinations won by Frank and Matt Pinyon. Also having a successful day as a family were Cameron and Alekx Whant as they won the Husband-and-Wife Trophy, while their children Riley and Liam won the Siblings Trophy.
For those who come along on their own to support the day, there is an open pairs competition for both TR and F-Class. This year the winning TR combination was Andrew Heard and Daniel Nesbitt while Frank Marshall and John Cranwell won the trophy for F-Class.
A number of individual trophies are also competed for on the day; the top scores for each discipline, as well as the highest scores by a veteran, a junior and an ex-serviceperson. This year the top scorers for each category were Anaki Tovali, who had the highest score by a former serviceman with a 92.06, Kym and Duncan Muller, who each scored a 79.11 to win the veteran and the junior trophies respectively. Cameron Whant topped F-Open with 95.06, Jamie Clayton led F-Standard with 94.05, and Lynlee Lowe took out TR with 80.09.
The highlight of the individual competition though is the final shoot-off for the ANZAC Medal where the top four from each discipline shoot an additional 8-shots at the end of the day. This year, the tightly fought competitions were all claimed by people who scored possibles. Two first-time winners of this prize were Kym Muller in TR with a 40.05, and Anaki Tovali in F-Standard with 48.02. John Cranwell secured his second ANZAC medal in F-Open with eight super-centres in a row for a 48.08.
Thanks were extended to the Father and Son’s Committee for organising the logistics for the shoot, especially to Bronwyn Hajek and Frank O. Pinyon, who put in an amazing effort on the day, as well as the Mount Barker Rifle Club for hosting the event and providing lunch and morning tea facilities and for keeping the clubhouse toasty warm throughout the day. The shoot will once again be held at Mount Barker next year on the 25th of April.
