Ridgeland High, LaFayette shooters qualify for state
Panthers finish as Area 10 runner-up
The Ridgeland High rifle team ranked sixth after the first round at the Area 10 championship at Etowah High School on Friday night, but rallied to finish as the area runnerup, the program’s highestever area finish.
A score of 375 (with 18 center hits) in the prone shooting position left Ridgeland in sixth place after the first rotation, but the Panthers would charge back with the second-highest totals in standing (357-6) and kneeling (370-12) to amass 1,095 points (with 30 center hits).
Only Cherokee (1,121-50) finished with a higher total as they had the highest score in each of the three shooting disciplines.
Ridgeland’s top shooter for the day was team captain Kayla Brewer with a 2768, who finished eighth on the day, individually. She was followed by Jasmayn Walcott (274-8), Mackenzie Hunter (273-6) and Brooke Smith (272-8) to round out the team score. Also shooting was Ryson
Haag (264-10).
Hunter was later named to the All-Area Team 2 for her performances throughout the season.
Ridgeland will now bypass the sectionals and will be guaranteed a spot in the state semifinals for the first time in program history.
Dalton (1,090-44), Etowah (1,073-23), LaFayette (1,06729), Cartersville (1,03726), Sonoraville (900-18) and Gordon Central (6476) rounded out the team standings.
LaFayette was paced by Crandale Jackson’s 27710, good enough for sixth place in the final individual standings. Also shooting for the Ramblers was Dixie Mathis (269-6), Julianna Brown (264-6), Abby Sansing (257-7) and Jacob Gilbreath (233-2).
The Ramblers also qualified for state as the No. 5 seed from the area and will take part in the sectionals on March 27. Their first opponent will be the runnerup from Area 8, which was unknown as of press time.
The semifinals are April 10 with the state championships set for April 24 at Fort Benning in Columbus.