Lathrop junior among top 35 at national shooting event

Post date: Apr 13, 2013 1:00:04 AM

FAIRBANKS — Kasey Barnes, of Fairbanks, placed in the top 35 among 104 finishers in the women’s air rifle of the USA Shooting National Junior Olympic Championships on Tuesday and Wednesday in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The 17-year-old Lathrop High School junior compiled a two-day total of 767 for 34th place in her first Junior Olympics. Barnes shot a 386 out of possible 400 on Tuesday and the Junior 2 entry (ages 15-17) recorded a 381 total on Wednesday.

The participants fired at 40 targets each day on a 10-meter course at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.

Barnes qualified for the Junior Olympics with her 381 total during a qualifying match last December at the E.F. Horton Range in the Patty Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Barnes’ sister, Jaimie, an Alaska Nanooks freshman, competed in last year’s Junior Olympics in Colorado Springs.

Meredith Carpentier, of Waukegan, Ill., captured this year’s women’s air rifle title. The J1 competitor (ages 18-20) registered an 893.4 total that included a two-day effort of 791 — 395 and 396, respectively — and a 102.4 score in the final round. The final featured the top eight shooters from the first two days.

Lathrop High School sophomores Connor Gilman and JT Schnering are entered in the men’s air rifle of the Junior Olympics on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 16-17, at the Olympic Training Center. This also is the first Junior Olympics for the two 15-year-olds.

Gilman qualified by shooting a 565 out of a possible 600 during the qualifying matches in December at the Patty Center. Schnering qualified with a 564 total.