Shane Elworthy of Durango earns a spot in the national 4-H shooting sports competition

Elworthy will compete at Nebraska in June

A popular saying is “shoot for the stars.” Durango High School student Shane Elworthy has been shooting for Nebraska for some time.

All of Elworthy’s hard work paid off. On August 17, Elworthy qualified for a spot in the National 4-H Shooting Sports Competition in Grand Island, Nebraska in June.

“It feels great,” Elworthy said. “It’s super rewarding. I worked really hard on it.”

Elworthy, 16, was born and raised in Durango. He grew up shooting air guns in the backyard. Elworthy comes from a family full of hunters and people who enjoy sport shooting.

He joined La Plata County 4-H Youth Development about four years ago when he heard it offered .22-caliber shooting sports.

His coaches in 4-H immediately recognized that Elworthy had potential. Elworthy knew it too. Every summer he attended 4-H training at least once a week and worked on his craft.

Elworthy travels to Nebraska to compete with his .22 rimfire rifle in three disciplines: Hunt Class, Sporter and Scope.

“So there’s some wiggle room, and that’s what it sounds like: There’s some wiggle room,” Elworthy said. “Then the target rifle has a peephole, or something like a small hole in the back, and it also has a peephole in the front. Then in hunting lessons it has a V at the back and a little pin at the front that you can adjust.”

Elworthy has 40 minutes to fire 40 shots at his targets in four different positions in each event. He takes ten shots at each position and is 15 meters away each time. The goal is to hit the white bullseye with white rings on a circular black target.

Over the last year, Elworthy has worked with his coaches on various techniques to keep his hands consistently on the rifle while shooting.

His hard work was demonstrated at the La Plata County 4-H Fair Shootout on July 20th. He finished in the top five in the exhibition shooting. He then went to the Colorado State Fair shoot on August 17, where he placed second overall against hundreds of competitors, which was good enough to get him to the national competition in Nebraska.

Until then, Elworthy wants to continue improving his results with lots of practice.

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