Outdoors: Camp Perry hosts busy summer of marksmanship competition

Jun. 21—PORT CLINTON — The National Matches, created by Congress in 1903 and supported by then President Teddy Roosevelt as a means to improve military marksmanship and the preparedness of the national defense, have been held at Camp Perry for nearly 115 years, with very few exceptions.

Then last year, with the coronavirus pandemic and its tsunami of uncertainty paralyzing most of the globe, the National Matches were canceled. That meant the thousands of shooters, spectators and officials from across the U.S. and the rest of the planet would not be coming to the Ohio National Guard installation on the shores of Lake Erie.

After that essentially silent year, the range and competition facilities at historic Camp Perry have come back to life. The recent 2021 Camp Perry Open marksmanship event brought in more than 250 expert shooters to take part in the Three-Position and 60 Shot Air Rifle, 60 Shot Air Pistol and a 3x40 Smallbore Rifle competition. The event is conducted by the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) and was held at the Gary Anderson CMP Competition Center and the Petrarca Range on the Camp Perry base just west of here.

One of the winners is a marksman in the U.S. Army who is headed to Tokyo later this summer to compete in the Olympics. SP4 Alison Weisz, a 26-year-old member of the U. S. Army Marksmanship Unit, won the 60 Shot Air Rifle Match with her exceptional score of 1261.9. Weisz, a graduate of the University of Mississippi, will compete at the Olympics in the women's 10-meter air rifle competition on July 25 and in the 10-meter air rifle mixed team event on July 28.

Weisz, who spent most of her youth in Belgrade, Mont., and considers that community as her hometown, used the recent Camp Perry event to further hone her competitive mindset as the Tokyo Olympics gets closer.

"The goals and expectations I had coming into this match were, really, to just perform and focus on performance," she said. "Whatever the outcome was, it was going to be, at the end of the day."

Weisz, who has been attending graduate school at the University of Memphis and also serves as an assistant coach for that school's rifle team, has had success in international competition. She won a gold medal at the 2019 Pan American Games and a silver medal at the 2018 Championship of the Americas. The Olympics will put her on the biggest stage and she is excited about the chance to represent the United States as part of the American team.

"I'm so honored and blessed to have the opportunity," the South Dakota native said.

Weisz was introduced to shooting as a nine-year-old who signed up for a firearms education and gun safety program. Her family was not involved in hunting or competitive shooting, but her parents saw the course as an opportunity to learn the valuable lessons of firearms safety.

She demonstrated an affinity for the sport and said she found the competitive shooting community very welcoming. As Weisz developed her skills and her talent level became evident, she progressed and competed throughout the U.S.

Weisz was the Montana Air Rifle Champion in 2009, 2011 and 2012 and a national champion in air rifle in 2009. She was recruited by Ole Miss and joined the rifle team there and continued to excel.

At Mississippi, Weisz qualified for the NCAA Championships all four years, was a two-time All-American, and as a senior took first place at the USAS National Championship and qualified to join the U.S. National Team. She was recruited to join the Army Marksmanship Unit in Fort Benning, Georgia, and enlisted about a year ago. She won her position on the U.S. Olympic team during the Olympic Trials in Colorado Springs in February.

Weisz said the Camp Perry competition provided her with the opportunity to continue her intense preparation for the Olympics.

"A lot of the things I've been working on is mental training and technical training skills," she said. "Ultimately, I just wanted to come in and put those into action."

James Hall, a 37-year-old member of Team USA and fellow Olympian, won the air pistol 60 Shot event at the Camp Perry Open. Hall will represent the United States in Air Pistol at the Tokyo Olympics.

The Camp Perry Open is part of an extensive summer competition scheduled to take place at the facility. The 2021 National Matches will open with pistol competition on July 12, followed by the Civilian Marksmanship Program's expanding Smallbore events, including three-position, prone and team matches designed for competitive shooters of all ages. There will also be a Smallbore Small Arms Firing School, open to both experienced and novice shooters, and directed by members of the Army Marksmanship Unit.

The 2021 National Matches schedule includes Rimfire Sporter, President's Rifle, National Trophy Individual, Garand, Springfield and M1 matches, along with other popular events that are expected to once again bring thousands of competitors and spectators to Camp Perry.

The matches at Camp Perry are conducted through a partnership of the Civilian Marksmanship Program and the Ohio National Guard. The CMP focuses its efforts on firearm safety and marksmanship training and the promotion of marksmanship competition. For more information on the CMP and the National Matches schedule at Camp Perry, visit TheCMP.org website.

First Published June 21, 2021, 10:23am