The Armidale School’s Tom Southwell has been named in the Combined AAGPS shooting team, following a consistent performance at the Great Public Schools championships at Hornsby Rifle Range in Sydney this week.
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It will be a memorable 18th birthday for Southwell, of Bingara, who will “come of age” on Sunday with a rifle in hand as the rep team lines up against various district rifle association teams to contest the Josephson Shield.
“I was hopeful, but didn’t expect to make the team. It’s as good a place as any to spend the birthday. The celebrations will just have to wait until after,” said the TAS shooting captain, who ranked fifth among the 73 shooters from the seven GPS schools which participated in the two-day Sydney event which finished on Wednesday.
Southwell and shooting vice-captain Sam Cannington, of Narrabri, led the TAS team. On the first day of competition on Tuesday morning, the TAS First VIII had solid results in the Rawson Cup, shot at 500m and 600m stages, and placed third overall behind Newington College and Shore.
The 600m stage was particularly strong for TAS, with Cannington (35.6) and Southwell (35.3) the top two individual shooters.
Strengthening winds of variable speed and distance made for challenging conditions on Tuesday afternoon’s NRA Shield over 600m, with TAS placing fifth. Newington again achieved the highest score.
The second day of competition commenced with the TAS’ Second VIII shooting a seven-shot stage at 500m, followed by seven shots at 300m for the GPS Seconds Premiership Shield. While TAS placed fifth, it was a memorable event, with team members Erin Page and Sophie Tongue making history as the first girls to compete in an official GPS shooting competition.
In the final match of the premiership, the Buchanan Shield, which involved a 300m eight-shot deliberate stage followed by a snap application, TAS amassed 577 points from a possible 640. They finished fourth as Newington made a clean sweep of all four competitions and won the premiership for the first time since 1909.
Southwell also collected the Bisley Bullet trophy for the highest individual aggregate between TAS, Sydney Boys’ High and New England Girls’ School.
“The competition was fierce and it was very close with just a few points separating teams in some matches,” TAS shooting MIC David Lawrence said. “Ultimately, though, I couldn’t be more proud of the way the shooters shot to their potential. [They] never gave up when they dropped a shot and supported each other throughout.”
