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LEBANON Lebanon High School sharpshooters aim for national titles Comment By Amanda Nowacki Albany Democrat-Herald MailTribune.com By Amanda Nowacki Albany Democrat-Herald Posted Mar. 13, 2015 at 2:00 AM Updated Mar 13, 2015 at 11:32 AM By Amanda Nowacki Albany Democrat-Herald Posted Mar. 13, 2015 at 2:00 AM Updated Mar 13, 2015 at 11:32 AM » Social News LEBANON — Four days a week, a handful of students at Lebanon High School put down their books and zero in on something completely different — targets. "Quiet your mind" and "Focus on 'us,' not 'them'" are just two of the commands students hear from retired Lt. Col. Mark Smith, senior Army instructor for the school's Junior Reserve Officer's Training Corps (JROTC) Rifle Team. Their concentration has paid off with the title of best Army JROTC rifle team in the nation for the second year in a row. "Hundreds of rifle teams from across the United States participated in qualifying matches over the last several months, but only the 47 best teams were invited to regional matches," Smith said. The team, which shoots air rifles, will go on to compete against the best Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force JROTC teams March 18-22 at Camp Perry, Ohio. The regional matches were in Phoenix, Arizona, Camp Perry, Ohio, and Anniston, Alabama, over the course of two weeks. Lebanon went to the Phoenix match Feb. 18-22. To prepare for competitions, the students meet in their classroom that is set up for air-rifle marksmanship training. They place targets and then practice their breathing so they can relax and just focus on the task at hand: hitting a dot in the center of the target that is approximately the size of the period at the end of this sentence. Competitions are generally three days according to Smith. The first day is inspection of the rifles, equipment and clothing, then the students get one hour to practice. They can shoot in whatever position (prone, kneeling or standing) for one hour. The second day, each competitor shoots a three-by-twenty match, meaning they shoot 20 rounds into a target three times: once prone, once kneeling and once standing. The third day is similar to the second, however at the end of the day the top eight shooters have a shoot-off in standing position, known as a final. They each get 10 shots. "This is where the competition gets interesting," Smith said. "They can go into the final in first place and out of the final in eighth place." Members of the Lebanon team that competed consisted of Jasmine White, Xander Eikelenboom, Michael Langdon and Cody Bates. White placed fourth nationally out of 241 shooters, and Eikelenboom took fifth. "I like being on the rifle team because we get to travel, I get to have good people around me and it's a great way to spend my time after school," said Eikelenboom, 16, a junior. "And shooting. I like the shooting." He said he enjoyed the competition, but he knows he personally could have done better. "There is always room for improvement," he said. "But it's great to be the best Army JROTC rifle team in the nation. Lebanon is actually a town people know now. The title used to be on the East Coast, and now it is on the West Coast." To prepare for the competition in Ohio, Eikelenboom plans to practice every day as much as he can. "I will keep working on things that need to be improved, something I've always done." White, 17, also a junior, joined the JROTC rifle team because of her dad, who is a marksman for the Coast Guard. "I couldn't do sports at the time, so I decided to try this," she said. "I love the competitions, because I meet people from all around the world. It's fun." Unlike other sports, rifle team practices the entire school year, and Smith offers optional practices during the summer so students can keep up their skills. "I push these kids hard," Smith said. "One of the reasons they do well is because they respond to that." By Amanda Nowacki Albany Democrat-Herald MailTribune.com By Amanda Nowacki Albany Democrat-Herald Posted Mar. 13, 2015 at 2:00 AM Updated Mar 13, 2015 at 11:32 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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