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Virginia Military Institute’s Club Pistol Team attended the Scholastic Action Shooting Program Intercollegiate Pistol Nationals for the first time. Three cadets, and their coach, Reese McCormick, departed for Oxford, Alabama, to attend nationals on March 14.
Once the team landed in Alabama, they spent most of their first day sighting their pistols. The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation hosted the nationals and kicked off the competition the next day. Seven cadets had qualified for the event, but only three were able to attend.
Parker Hall ‘24, Alexandria Holt ‘24, and Chris Olson ‘25 were the cadets in attendance. Of those cadets, Holt made history as the first VMI cadet to shoot in the national championships in pistol. For the team, the results at nationals were not what they had hoped for.
“They did remarkably well,” Holt said. “We are a very young team: two second-class cadets, and everyone else is either a fourth- or third-class cadet.”
For McCormick, a retired Extension agent who formerly led the local 4-H program, qualifying for nationals was an accomplishment in itself. “Our kids had a rookie coach,” he said. “All of us were rookies for the first time.”
Though the scores were not perfect, the event was a new experience for all.
“It was a great event for us,” said McCormick. “We didn’t shoot as well as we wanted to, but at the same time, it was something we did for the first time ever.”
McCormick explained that the sport of pistol was relatively new to him. After listening to advice from his predecessor, Lt. Col. Bill Bither, he knew it was a position he could take on. In his first year as coach, he leaned on the firstclass cadets to lead the team.
“Coach Bither told me that most of the cadets would be able to lead our team,” he said. “After that, he encouraged me to keep reading, and keep learning from the cadets.”
One of McCormick’s favorite aspects of the sport of pistol is the applicability to everyday life. “It’s a lifetime sport,” he said. “We may be coaching the sport, but we are really trying to teach these kids life skills at the same time.”
