Outstanding marksmanship has led to some fresh accolades for several North Augusta High School students this month.
Gage McCullough, Carson Jones and Jack Livingston are officially among the state’s top teen marksmen after placing third in the state trap-shooting competition, held Feb. 8 at the Plametto Shooting Complex in Edgefield.
The Yellow Jackets’ shooting program, coached by Travis Spears, has 15 participants, and McCullough (a junior), Jones (sophomore) and Livingston (freshman) competed as their program’s top talent, under sunny, windy conditions on the morning of the state event.
It’s familiar territory, as the Jackets finished second in the state last year, with McCullough as part of a trio that included two seniors.
The state’s top honors this year, out of 100-plus schools taking part, went to Barnwell High, which won a tiebreaker with Thomas Heyward Academy, a private school in Ridgeland.
Spears pointed out that the Yellow Jackets shot at a high level (131 points out of a possible 150) in a recent practice session, which would have won the state title if they had managed to reproduce those results a day later. Barnwell and Heyward shot 128, and the Jackets shot 124.
“I think the nerves kind of got to us,” Jones said.
Read the full Aiken Standard article HERE.