The Lumpkin County HS Rifle Team competed in the GHSA State Championships on March 14 and 15th at the Ware County Shooting Sports Complex in Waycross, GA. Only 17 teams out of over 100 teams make it to the competition. Individual athletes can compete if they scored an individual qualifying score of 292, even if their team does not make it to the final level. The competition involves twenty shots in each of the three positions of kneeling, prone, and standing for a total of sixty shots and a possible top score of 600. The match is often referred to as a 3-position 3x20. There were 94 athletes competing. The process begins with only the top six teams from each of the 10 Areas advancing to the first elimination round, a total of sixty teams in the Sectionals. Upon completion of the sectionals, thirty teams advance to the next level called the Semi-Finals. After the elimination of half the teams, the remaining fifteen teams and the two eliminated teams with the highest score advance to the Championship for the seventeen competing teams. On the first day all competitors must go through an inspection process of all suits, rifles, kneeling roll, prone mat, glove, etc.. Their suits are inspected for size and tightness. The suits can not be tighter than a designated amount to ensure they are not providing the athlete too much support. The rifles are weighed and measured for length as well as inspected for unauthorized attachments. After passing inspection, individuals are provided one hour of practice time in any positions of their choice. Day two consists of the competition phase. Members of each team are divided between two of the three relays with those that qualified as individuals, and not attending with a team, mixed into the relays. Lumpkin’s team was divided with Team Captain Senior James “JT” Wright (585), Junior Liam Kearney (552), and Sophomore Ivy Stowers (570) in the Relay 2. Senior Joey Dechant (562) and Sophomore Makayla Prosser (541) competed during Relay 3. Wright's finishing score of 585 placed him in sixth place of the competition round as an individual. The top four individual scores of each team are calculated and used to determine the team’s rankings. Lumpkin County finished the competition portion in ninth place. Following the third relay, the eight finalists were announced. The top eight athletes from all competitors advance to the finals. Wright advanced as the sixth place shooter. The finals begin with all competitors on the same level of no score. The finals match involves all three positions with three 5 shot series in kneeling, three 5 shot series in prone, two 5 shot standing series, and finally five single elimination shots. Upon completion of the finals match, Wright achieved the bronze as the third place finisher. In addition to taking the podium to receive his third place medal, JT Wright was presented with a plaque for being a member of the Georgia All-State team based on his season score average. He finished the regular season with the highest average score of all athletes that competed in at least ten regular season GHSA matches. His season average was 293.92. This was Wright and Dechant’s last GHSA match. Kearney's growth over last year’s score and the experience gained by Stowers and Prosser, in their first State Championship match, provide excitement for next year.