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Powell River athletes return triumphant from national shooting competitions

Katheryn Sheldon and Ethin Dube win gold medals at Toronto contests
Katheryn Sheldon [left] and Ethin Dube Powell River
MEDAL HAUL: Katheryn Sheldon [left] and Ethin Dube both achieved success at the Shooting Federation of Canada 2019 Canadian National Championships Rifle and Pistol held in Toronto from August 23 to September 3. Contributed photo

Hard work paid off for Powell River target shooters Ethin Dube and Katheryn Sheldon. The two athletes who have been honing their target shooting skills with Powell River Yellow Jackets for the past few years recently returned from the Canadian National Championships in Rifle and Pistolwith plenty of medals between them.

Dube achieved gold in sporting rifle three-position ladies junior, sporting rifle sharpshooter class and sporting rifle three-position senior ladies, as well as a bronze medal in 10-metre air rifle in the ladies junior category. The highlight of the competition, which took place August 23 to September 3 in Toronto, was “getting to shoot with a bunch of talented people,” said Dube.

Sheldon won gold in sporting rifle prone, international ladies junior as well as bronze medals in sporting rifle prone expert class and ladies senior division. Their success exceeded her expectations, she said. 

“For the last year, mine and Ethin’s goal was to complete in the Canadian nationals,” added Sheldon. “We had no expectations for medals or placements. All we wanted was to participate for the experience. It was a long week and tough work, but we made it through and did much better than we had expected. I’m very proud of our accomplishments.”

Both athletes became interested in shooting and marksmanship through their association with the local cadet program. They are coached by Darryl Craig, who is also the Team BC coach for target shooting. The Powell River contingent was joined by a group from Vancouver Island.

“As a team we took seven gold, four silver and two bronze,” said Craig. “We were really happy they were doing so well. They did really well on their personal goals and it led to a wonderful medal count.”

The training regime is quite intense, according to Dube.

We shoot every Thursday and our coach Darryl has made us yearly training plans of what position we need to shoot and how much physical activity we need to do each week,” said Dube, who has been part of the team for three years.

“It’s definitely a commitment for them on the training part,” added Craig, “and a commitment on their families to support them.”

Yellow Jackets practice every Thursday at Powell River Rod and Gun Club, in the disciplines of prone and three-position shooting, using 22-calibre target rifles. The team welcomes all ages.

For more information about the Yellow Jackets, go to powellriverrodandgunclub.com or call Craig at 604.414.7164.