Kahr supports Wayland, MA high school shooting team

Wayland Warriors Win Third Place at New England Scholastic Steel Challenge Collegiate Spring Championship

The US Coast Guard Academy won today’s New England Scholastic Steel Challenge Collegiate Spring Championship, with the University of Vermont taking second place and the Wayland Warriors in third. Harvard and Yale took fourth and fifth places respectively. Individual Warriors did very well: Jesse Goddard (WHS ‘13) placed 3rd overall, John Monahan (WHS ‘12) placed 6th, Will Gunshenan (WHS ‘13) placed 12th, and Derek Kaufman (WHS ‘11) placed 14th.

In the Scholastic Steel Challenge, young adults aged 12 thru 20 shoot steel targets with 9mm pistols. Good scores require speed and accuracy, and today’s competitors demonstrated plenty of both.

Coach John Gunshenan told the Crier, “A group of Wayland High School kids formed this team 6 weeks ago, and asked me to help coach them. They spent the last 4 weeks preparing for this match. The kids set a goal of beating one team at least, which later progressed to beating Harvard and Yale, which they accomplished. When we started, most kids on our team had never fired a pistol, and some had never fired a gun at all. They’ve all worked hard, and made tremendous progress. AWARE.org taught all the kids and half their parents the Mass-approved Basic Firearms Safety course. Their State Firearms Safety Certificates show that they know how to shoot safely, and today’s results show that they also know how to shoot competitively. The kids had a blast, and we’re thrilled with their progress.”

The team has received a great deal of support from the Scholastic Steel Challenge organization, Kahr, Winchester, Harvard Sportsmen’s Club, AWARE.org, GOAL.org, Smith & Wesson, the Wayland Police Department, Four Seasons Firearms, and gfa Arms Tec.

Several other area groups are in the process of forming Scholastic Steel Challenge teams for their schools. All it takes is a coach, at least four shooters, and a place to shoot. The Scholastic Steel Challenge organization provides all the support necessary to form a successful team. For more information, see scholasticsteelchallenge.com.