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Published Monday, February 08, 2010 in Sports

Grumbling, ECHS shooters right on target

By Chris Goltermann

The Newnan Times-Herald

One had to wonder how East Coweta would handle the loss of a pair of All-State shooters in 2010. Despite returning two starters from last year's GHSA State Championships, a return trip wasn't exactly a given from the view of its coach, Master Sgt. John Skinner.

But after firing a state-best 1163 last Thursday, Skinner is suddenly now wondering if this year's ECHS team can just keep the pace it has now set for itself.

Led by co-captain Adam Grumbling's near-perfect 296 out of possible 300, East Coweta outshot Area 5 rival Woodward Academy last Thursday 1163-1138.

The effort from Grumbling, who has consistently placed in the top-7 at several recent national competitions, was a season-best, but not out of his range. It consisted of impressive 99 (out of 100) efforts in both the prone and standing positions, as well as a 98 in kneeling.

"He's just getting better and better," said Skinner. "Obviously if he keeps this up, he's got a shot (at a state title). He's just in a zone right now."

As impressive as Grumbling has been of late, what may have the ECHS coach even more amazed is the precision among his other shooters. Outside of returner and co-captain Tyler Dayton, East Coweta's three other shooters had little or no match experience heading into the year.

Just how strong was Thursday's score of 1163? Consider last year's state champion Union Grove won the GHSA title with an 1156 on a team dominated by senior girls, arguably the stronger of two genders in high school shooting.

East Coweta's previous season-best score was a 1138 shot against Griffin two weeks ago.

Translate it to other sports and Thursday's 1163 is as rare as scoring 100 points in a prep basketball game or breaking 50 in football.

"It's just a phenomenal score. I e-mailed it to one of the other coaches and said, you're not going to believe this score, but it happened," said Skinner. "The thing is, can we do that at a higher level? But if we can do it in a match setting like we did Thursday, who knows?"

Dayton, who had also qualified for the April 3 GHSA state championships individually, is coming of a 290 and freshman Zachary Moye was just one-point off the state cutoff, adding a season-high 289 against Woodward. In addition to Moye, another major surprise for Skinner was the effort of sophomore Kelsey Moral. Attempting her first kneeling position of the year, Moral came away with a season-best 288.

"She's been working hard at it and wanted to give it a try," said Skinner. "She shocked me."

East Coweta's fifth shooter, sophomore Kevin Murray, also had a season high 281, with the top four scores in each of the three positions added to determine the team total.

"To have everyone excel at the same time is special," said Skinner. "Consistency is the name of this game. I wasn't sure this team would be ready for this score. (But) they have worked hard and I hope they start to really believe in themselves."

While continuing to focus on the upcoming Area 5 tournament on March 4, East Coweta will get a chance to shoot in competition twice this week. In addition to a region match against Spalding County, East Coweta will host Northgate's JROTC team on Wednesday in a chance for the two county schools to go head-to-head.

Northgate has an entry-level Sporter team that does not compete in the GHSA. Teams have to petition the GHSA by each April 1 to compete in rifle. Northgate's team includes Zachary Wells, who in addition to earning his third straight trip to the Junior Olympic Championships, received a scholarship to attend West Point and shoot for the Army program.

"We'll have some fun with it," said Skinner.

East Coweta will be sending Grumbling and Moral to the upcoming Marine Corps JROTC Service Championships on Feb. 27-29. The school won a national championship as a team last year at the service level.

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