Army holds top two Long Range Rifle spots at NRA Championships

Port Clinton, Ohio - Norman Anderson of the U.S. Army Reserves vaults to the top of the NRA leaderboard after a splendid morning performance in today's Long Range High Power Rifle competitions. Bolstered by his 200-12x Aiken Trophy outing, he now holds a one point lead over Tyler Cooper of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit. His grand total? 798-40x. But wait … there's more.

Anderson's lead doesn't end there. Scores from their third and fourth relays just popped in. They include heavy weights such as John Whidden, Michelle Gallagher and 2010 World Individual Long Range Rifle Champion (from Great Britain) David Luckman. Even after all that skills and talent came charging over the hill, Anderson was about to hold them back ... even if by the narrowest of margins.

Odd thing is that we didn't expect much of a change. Weather conditions are practically perfect. Sunny but not too sunny. The wind is barely a wisp (not once the round gets down range according to one member of the U.S. Armed Service), and everyone has settled into a long range rifle state of mind. With any luck, we might even be pushed to a tie breakers before this year's NRA Long Range High Power Rifle title is handed out.

Here are the scores: