Russell Finds Success At the Civilian Marksmanship Program
- Editor
- Aug 18
- 2 min read
John Russell of Emlenton continued his winning ways this past summer on the range.
This past July, Russell participated in the Civilian Marksmanship Program and the National Matches event at Camp Perry in Port Clinton, Ohio.
The National Matches are open to the public and have been offering events since the 1970s, with a multitude of disciplines depending on your specialty.
The matches are conducted by a partnership of the Civilian Marksmanship Program and the Ohio National Guard.
Since its inception in 1903, the National Matches have become a huge, national shooting sports festival with well over 4,500 annual participants, with some of the world’s best shooters participating.
Russell, who normally practices four days a week, stepped up the work ethic heading into the National Matches, putting in six days a week to get ready for the event. The week before the event, he attended a four-day, three-position Air Rifle Training Camp. The camp was hosted by the Civilian Marksmanship Program with NCAA Rifle Competitors as counselors.
John participated in the 3 Position Air Rifle and the 3 Position Smallbore events. The air rifle matches were shot inside at 10 meters, held over two days. The smallbore matches were also shot over two days, but were held outside at 50 meters. For each event, participants shot 20 rounds kneeling, 20 rounds prone, and 20 rounds standing on each of the two days.
Being outside, the small-bore matches presented a bit of a challenge with traditional Camp Perry’s windy conditions.
John placed 3rd in 3 Position Air Rifle in the Under 15 age group, and he placed 1st in 3 Position Smallbore in the Under 15 age group. John also placed first in the "Sharpshooter" classification in the smallbore match. Therefore, he had the opportunity to stand on stage in the historic Hough Theater 3 times this year.
