Palmerston North Girls' High School target shooter Stephanie McNair in action.
Palmerston North Girls' High School target shooter Stephanie McNair in action.
Palmerston North student Stephanie NcNair is a finalist in the New Zealand Rural Sports Awards, which take place in Palmerston North on Friday.
The 17-year-old target shooter is a finalist in the Young New Zealand Rural Sportsperson of the Year category along with John Morrison (harness racing) and Adam Gordon (shearing).
Stephanie, who lives in Dannevirke, only started in the sport in 2018 but her flair for target shooting has seen her shoot through the ranks.
Starting out in D grade just two years ago where she was shooting indoors only, Stephanie soon qualified for C Grade in 2019, and then A grade by the end of that same year, missing B grade altogether.
Stephanie has won and been highly placed in many competitions during 2020 which featured top shooters from around New Zealand, including those who have competed at the Commonwealth and Olympic Games. She has also had international wins against teams from Great Britain and the United States.
Stephanie plans to become the top secondary school shooter for 2021 during the secondary school nationals in September.
Palmerston North Girls' High School targert shooter Stephanie McNair with some of her trophies.
Target shooting is a family activity she's grown up with. Her mother, Ruth McNair nee Stuart, represented New Zealand at the 1994 and 1998 Commonwealth Games. Her father, Robbie, is also a target shooter and her parents met through the sport.
Her older brother Lachie was a member of the Palmerston North Boys' High team and her sister, Caley, 14, is getting into the sport.
"It's quite a relaxed sport in a way, it's not high intensity," Stephanie says.
It's also a social sport where she can meet people at competitions and then catch up with them at the next event.
Stephanie says she and her mother are at a similar shooting level and they have friendly competitions.
"I've beaten her and then Mum next week, she beat me. It's just a fun thing. She jokes about getting beaten by her daughter."
Ruth McNair won the North Island Ladies Indoor Trophy twice and Stephanie has bagged it once so far.
Stephanie practises once a week and competes at the weekend; she practises more often if there is a big competition coming up. She is a member of the Dannevirke Smallbore Rifle Club.
Stephanie says a lot of the top shooters in New Zealand are women and while older shooters tend to be men, younger ones are often women. There are mixed competitions, "which is quite cool, beat the men", but also women's and men's teams.
She can beat her father. "Last year, he was trying to beat me again, it was quite cool. Throughout the years I've got to the stage [where he can't]."
Good shooters need to be patient when shooting outdoors because high winds can push out the bullets and they need to relax. "If you are tensed, that's when shots can go out."
Stephanie works part-time at New World in Dannevirke. Asked how she juggles school, work and training, Stephanie says she and her dad work out a training plan tailored to each competition.
At last month's Target Shooting New Zealand Outdoor National Championships in Christchurch, she made all the New Zealand teams she could including the North Island team, women's team (New Zealand vs Australia) and junior team (New Zealand vs Australia). She was the first junior woman 3 position.
