Ellesmere College made it a cup double at the recent British Schools Rifle Shooting Competition. Teams of eight participated in both the Arthur Clarke Schools Long Range Rifle Competition and the Ashburton Shield, which attracts more than 600 teenagers from across the UK.
The Ellesmere team made up of boys and girls aged between 14 - 19 came away with the Challenge Shield before capturing the Ashburton title, which is the most prestigious award in the British Schools Rifle Shooting Programme. Team Captain Richard Lay said "This was a huge team effort and everyone shot really well, against teams with very high standards. We were not expecting to win the Ashburton title but to eventually win it by 11 points was a great result for the team".
Ellesmere scored 745 points to finish top of the table, in-front of Dollar Academy from Scotland and Victoria College from Belfast, at the National Shooting Centre in Bisley, Surrey. In only their fourth year of participating in the Ashburton Competition, teams shot over 300, 500 and 600 yards during the four days of competition.
Shooting Coach Tom Rylands said "The Ashburton Shield amongst Public Schools is a massive prize to take home and we are all very proud of the team. All of the students have continued to improve their standards at competitions with several members achieving representational honours at British Schools and Junior National level during the past year".
21st July 2015 Back to News