(Front row: Corinne Blair, Alec Patajo; second row: Casey Iwamoto, Emma Carey, Lauren Phillips; not pictured, Owen Yeasting)
More big success for the West Seattle Totems riflery team, reports coach Joe Matter:

The West Seattle Totems recently competed in the American Legion National Air Rifle Postal match, which was locally sponsored by the Vashon American Legion Post #159. The American Legion match has two elements, a team competition and an individual competition.

In the individual competition, a match was worth 600 points. Lauren Phillips shot a 584 to place in the top 30 of the competition and qualified for the second round of competition. Lauren then shot a 586 to finish 5th in the second round which qualified her for the final round of competition which will be hosted at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs this summer.

In the team competition, a match is worth 2400 points. The team of Lauren Phillips, Casey Iwamoto, Owen Yeasting, and Emma Carey shot a 2302 to finish 2nd in the first round of competition. Only the top ten teams were invited to the second round. In the second round, the team of Lauren, Emma, Corinne Blair and Alec Patajo shot a 2322 to capture the team national bronze medal.

The Vashon American Legion Post as well as the West Seattle Sportsmen’s Club have been supportive of organized youth rifle sports, helping to build leadership skills and scholarship opportunities for youth and young adults. Focus skills required for shooting well are enormous and this further supports academic focus. NCAA rifle scholarships are not earned without having good grades also. We congratulate Lauren Phillips on earning a rifle scholarship to The University of Nebraska, a CMP Scholarship, as well as additional academic scholarships. We know that her opportunities have just begun.

The team practices at the West Seattle Stadium and has members from the peninsula, north Seattle, Puyallup, Ellensburg and Vashon. This summer will include a trip to nationals in Anniston, Alabama, for 8 shooters. The team was thrilled to get one team invitation last year and is stoked to have two teams qualify this year. What an accomplishment for these kids.

The volunteer coaching staff includes Joe Matter, Kurt Oberloh and Alan Carey.