[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 109 (Thursday, July 22, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1403-E1404]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING CALIFORNIA GRIZZLIES JUNIOR RIFLE TEAM

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 22, 2010

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend and 
congratulate the California Grizzlies Junior Rifle Team on winning the 
2009 National Trophy Infantry Match at Camp Perry on August 7, 2009. 
The team will be recognized and honored at the annual National Rifle 
Association sanctioned high power match on Saturday, July 3, 2010.
  The California Grizzlies Junior Rifle team consists of seven juniors 
from around the state of California; team captain Anthony Henderson, 
Sonora; David Bahten, Jamestown; Chad Kurgan, Sonora; Jim Minturn, San 
Diego; Joshua Lehn, Lemoore; Cheyanne Acebo, Vacaville; and Matthew 
Chezem, Simi Valley. The team is lead by coach Jim O'Connell. The 2009 
National Trophy Infantry Match winners shot a 1284, becoming the first 
junior team to ever win the event and the first civilian team to win in 
79 years. The team has been a tough competitor in recent years. They 
finished fifth at the event in 2008, setting a record with a score of 
1233. The team won the junior title, setting new records in 2008 and 
2009 in the National Trophy Team event, shooting a score of 2870 to 
finish eighth overall. The team consistently has members in the 
President's 100, a group of distinguished shooters and members that 
receive notable rankings and points in various competitions.
  The competition at Camp Perry includes many different matches; the 
Infantry Team Match, established in the late 1920s, is the competition 
that most closely resembles battles from war. Teams of six shoot at 
eight targets, starting off at six hundred yards, moving

[[Page E1404]]

to five hundred yards, then three hundred yards and ending at two 
hundred yards. These shots are taken in the three shooting positions: 
prone, sitting and standing. Each member of the team fires sixty-four 
total rounds with just fifty seconds to get into each position and 
fire. The best competitors can fire a shot a second and hit the target.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend the California Grizzlies 
Junior Rifle Team upon their 2009 victory. I invite my colleagues to 
join me in wishing the team many years of continued success.

                          ____________________