There were plenty of opportunities to pick up those additional targets but everyone was struggling with shifting conditions during both days. The point being made is that every animal counts because the difference between the top spots is generally no more than 1 or 2 targets at most.

Due to the dearth of East shooters, the dividing line between the East and West was moved to the Kansas/Missouri line instead of the Mississippi River. We truly need to encourage the guys and gals from the true "East" to attend this match. BPCR, Inc., the host of the match, always seems to scrounge up a nice group of prizes to distribute and I’m sure that should be an enticement for the East to attend. Not to mention that the record now is 5-0, five wins for the West to none for the East.

Past years have seen conditions that ranged from good to tornadic. Saturday of the 2001 contest featured some of the best weather we’ve seen in recent years. High sky, clear, warm, and a fairly gentle Southeast breeze were the order of the day on Saturday. Typical Kansas weather started rearing its head on Sunday, however. Light rain and total overcast greeted early arrivals to the range with a light Southeast wind. As the day progressed, the wind freshened to a steady howl of about 15 MPH with gusts easily surpassing 20 MPH.

Then, the cloud cover broke late in the afternoon and the great sight pictures we had been blessed with evaporated and the bright sun came out. Totally new sight pictures presented themselves, once again, and the late relays seemed to suffer the effects. Shooting on this range is not a piece of cake but the aggravation is worth it. This is a pleasant bunch of guys and gals to spend a couple of days with burning powder.

Needless to say, Dyan Rochelle was once again top female shooter breaking her own National Record for a one day and a two day match. Dyan won the first day’s competition following a shoot off with Joe Garcia who almost ran out of ammo. A coin toss after 2 rounds of 5 chickens, with only 1 hit between them, gave Dyan the win. Joe shot the next day’s 40 shot match with only 45-46 rounds so sighters were at a premium.

The "Top Guns" for this year’s edition of the East/West Challenge were Joe Garcia, Match Winner and High Senior; Matt Carter, 1^st Master; Dyan Rochelle, 2^nd Master and High Woman; Anthony Griggs, 3^rd Master; Lee Shaver, 1^st AAA; John Walters, 2^nd AAA; Justin Scott, 3^rd AAA; Greg Jackson, 1^st AA; Bill Ingalls, 2^nd AA; Larry Landrith, 3^rd AA; Dave Griffin, 1^st A; Larry Sterling, 2^nd A; Tex Hrabe, 3^rd A; Billy Stone III, High Junior. There was a total of 63 shooters at this year’s contest and we certainly need more competitors from the East. I don’t know what it’s going to take to get you guys and gals east of the Mississippi to attend but you’re missing a great match.

Hold Center,
Tom Berwick