Pretigious event right on target

Wind and rain did little to dampen the high spirits of the more than 130 competitors who gathered at the Albany Rifle Club to compete in the 106th West Australian Rifle Association Queen's Prize meeting over the long weekend.

The prestigious Queen's Prize event, which began last Friday, was held away from the Swanbourne Rifle Range for the first time after the closure of the metropolitan civilian range last year.

Sydney's Mosman Neutral Bay Club member Wendy McGuigan took first place in the Duke of Edinburgh shoot on Friday with a score of 298.023 and said she was thrilled with the result and how she had coped with the conditions.

"The (hardest) thing was the wind conditions; I was warned it would be quite tricky," she said.

"But sometimes you can make too many adjustments for the conditions.

"I think I just tried to shoot through it and sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn't."

Garry Craigie, from Yarloop, came second with a score of 296.032, and he was closely followed by John Moore from Boulder with a score of 296.030.

Albany's Robert Loxton finished 15th with 289.027 to be the best of the local shooters in the opening event.

On Saturday, Albany Mayor Dennis Wellington fired the first shot in the official opening ceremony for the Queen's Prize.

Mr Wellington said it was terrific for Albany to be able to host the event.

"It shows our ability to host big competitions like this and it is great for the club and great for the city," he said.

"It's getting the reputation out there that Albany is a great place to handle things like this."

West Australian Rifle Association chairman and City of Subiaco Rifle Club member Allan Dods said he was very impressed with the presentation of the Albany range and hopes to return again.

The results for the Queen's Prize are expected to be released today after the wrap-up of the event yesterday afternoon.

Duke of Edinburgh Results *

Target Rifle

1st Wendy McGuigan (Mosman Neutral Bay) 298.023

2nd Garry Craigie (Yarloop) 296.032

3rd John Moore (Boulder) 296.030

4th David Martin (Kambalda) 296.028

5th Robert Cuthbert (Darkan) 295.028

6th Neil Hughes (Yarloop) 293.024

7th Michael Forsberg (Manjimup) 293.024

8th Mark Milentis (Manjimup) 292.020

9th Gordon Duncan (Central) 291.025

10th Janet Wagland (Perth-Fremantle) 291.018

11th Tony McGuigan (Mosman Neutral Bay) 290.020

12th Warren McShane (Yarloop) 290.019

13th Stephen McShane (Yarloop) 290.017

14th Jim Jeffery (Lyndhurst) 289.030

15th Robert Loxton (Albany) 289.027

F Standard

1st Graham Oates (Busselton) 348.029

2nd William Hallam (Subiaco) 346.024

3rd Anthony Whittemore (Subiaco) 343.022

4th Denis Blechynden (Beverley) 341.020

5th Ashley Norwood (Geraldton-Greenough) 340.017

6th Cathy Keogh (Subiaco) 339.015

7th Graham Purdy (Geraldton-Greenough) 338.020

8th Ric Hurst (South Perth) 337.020

9th Mike Henley (Esperance) 334.018

10th Stephen Andrews (Perth-Fremantle) 334.016

FO: 1st Brett Bunyan (Bassendean-Bellview) 349.025

2nd Larry Lipple (Geraldton-Greenough) 345.019

3rd David Ogle (Wargabup) 341.017

F/TR: 1st Aaron Parker (Esperance) 336.014

2nd David Bliss (Kambalda) 336.011