SHOOTING - Marksmen hit target this year

Whangarei Boys' High School clay target shooters haven't missed much in 2007.
It has been the best year of competition the school's shooters have ever had as far as results and winning titles within the shooting community goes.
They began the year with 15 shooters forming three teams. In Northland Fish and Game competitions, the number one team of Nick Gavin, Daniel Erceg (Captain), Brent Martin, Ethan Erceg and Rhys Were won five out of five DTL competitions convincingly.
Out of those competitions there were also some outstanding individual results.
Daniel Erceg was High Overall Shooter for Northland, High Overall Point Score and High Overall Single Barrel.
Ethan Erceg was High Overall Single Rise.
Martin was second High Overall and second in Point Score and Gavin was third in Single Rise, second in Single Barrel and third in High Overall Boys.
In the Northland Fish and Game Skeet Competition, Daniel Erceg won the silver medal and Ethan won a bronze after a shoot off.
Daniel and Martin won gold in the two-man skeet team, while Ethan and Rhys Were won silver and Hugh McKenzie and Tim Mannion won bronze.
Our number two team consisting of Ian King, Hayden Coote, McKenzie, Matthew King and Mannion and Jay Luca came second in the Fish and Game competitions.
Our number one team also won the Kaipara College and Hamilton Boys High events.
At the North Island and New Zealand Championships, held over three days in Hamilton with 50 teams and 325 shooters, the WBHS number one team came second after a shoot off in the North Island Point Score Teams event, and first in the New Zealand Point Score Teams Event.
They also won the two day teams' trophy.
Martin and Nick Gavin won gold in the two man NZ Skeet. McKenzie was High Overall individual in the NZ Kilwell Postal Competition.
Daniel Erceg and Were qualified for the North against South Island Teams Competition which was won by the North with five of Boys High shooters qualifying for the Northland provincial team, in which they received bronze medals.
Individually, Martin won High Overall North Island Single Barrel, Gavin was fourth in North Island Single Rise Trophy.
In the New Zealand competition, Daniel Erceg was third after High Overall Shoot Off, he won gold in Boys Point Score, bronze in Single Rise Championship and Ethan Erceg was eighth in the Single Rise Trophy Shoot.
At National Level, Daniel and Ethan Erceg qualified for the NZ Under-18 Skeet Team, Gavin and Daniel Erceg qualified for the NZ under-21 DTL MacIntosh Team which won a postal competition against eight other countries. Martin won the A Grade NZ Minis Championship.
These results speak for themselves and judging by our four new shooters, Logan Rankin, Josh Wilson, Trent Neighbour and Finn Rebbechi, we will have strong shooters at Whangarei Boys' High School for the future.
Chris Erceg and Mike Newson have worked hard as coaches and Annette Erceg as the manager getting these boys to this standard of shooting, and could not have done it without the support of the parents. The team members are also grateful for the sponsorship of medals and prizes from Northland Fish and Game and McCoy and Thomas Hunting & Fishing.