b'THE ELLESMERIANSport - The Academies 172 ShootingI am pleased to report that, despite losing a strong cohort of leaversThere have again been several notable individual successes during the last year, shooting has thrived at Ellesmere despite the slow emergenceyear. Anna Maughan, James Caldwell, Iona Taylor, and Francine Gilmore from pandemic restrictions.were selected to shoot for England, and Will Williamson for Wales, in the International Postal Match. Again a significant achievement and New talent has appeared and, whilst it must be regarded as aEngland came out winners against Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, development year, there have been some significant successes.and the Channel Islands. In the Michaelmas term, the new 1st team got off to a flier with some superb shooting and came out winners of the National SchoolsAnna Maughan and Francine Gilmore have performed extremely well League. Fine performances from Anna Maughan, James Caldwell, Ionaon the National Stage this year; Francine, with her pistol shooting, is Taylor, Francine Gilmore, and Will Williamson ensured Ellesmerecurrently rated in the top 10 Nationally at senior level and Anna won finished top by quite a margin.the National under 21 Championships and shot extremely well at the National Championships, winning a number of trophies. New junior shooters performed well, and the enthusiasm shown bears well for the future. Rising stars include Archie Fearnall and Florence Sweeney, who both improved to the point of selection for school teams for the first time.Almost all the shooting has taken place at the College, with little opportunity to travel to shoulder-to-shoulder matches; hopefully the situation will improve over the coming months. The Regional event for the British Schools Pistol Championships was again postponed and converted to a postal qualifier as per last year. The Seniors and intermediates did well, with two teams qualifying for the finals. The senior teamconsisting of Ed Astbury, James Caldwell and Francine Gilmoreexcelled in the finals held live, finishing on the top of the podium. A great effort.'