On March 4, 30 youth from Clearfield and Jefferson counties gathered at the DuBois Rifle & Pistol Club to participate in the seventh annual Bi-County 4-H Shooting Sports Day.
The event was an air rifle competition open to youth between the ages of 8 and 18 years of age, as of Jan. 1, who are currently enrolled in the 4-H program. All participants must currently be taking a 4-H shooting sports project and completing the appropriate project requirements. This event served as a practice opportunity for the youth, traveling to Kersey on Saturday, March 31 to participate in the Regional 4-H Air Rifle Competition.
In the novice division, which was open to 4-H members ages 8 through 10, a total of five youth participated. Winning the novice division was Cheyenne Gotwald of the Jefferson County 4-H Top Guns with a score of 110. In second place was Dylan Kelly of the Clearfield County 4-H Riflery Club with a score of 95. Isaac Wolfe of the Jefferson County 4-H Top Guns received third place with a score of 86. Fourth place went to Karter Bell of the Clearfield County 4-H Riflery Club with a score of 75. Rounding out fifth place was David Smith of the Clearfield County 4-H Riflery Club with a score of 27.
In the junior division, which was open to 4-H members ages 11 and 12, a total of eight youth participated. Winning the junior division was Makayla Whaling of the Clearfield County 4-H Riflery Club with a score of 186. Second place honors went to Victoria Barber of the Jefferson County 4-H Top Guns with a score of 182. Third place went to Kyle Gotwald of the Jefferson County 4-H Top Guns with a score of 150. With a score of 144, Caleb Thompson of the Clearfield County 4-H Riflery Club finished in fourth place and Tanner Connor of the Clearfield County 4-H Riflery Club finished in fifth place with a score 141. Zayne Knight of the Clearfield County 4-H Riflery Club came in sixth place with a score of 119. With a score of 100, Carl Medsger the Jefferson County 4-H Top Guns received seventh place with a score of 100 and Ruby Gareis finished in eighth place with a score of 34.
In the intermediate division, which is open to youth between the ages of 13 and 15, 13 youth participated. Winning the intermediate division and also having the highest score of the day was Tyler Gotwald of the Jefferson County 4-H Top Guns with a score of 220. In second place was Lance Carrier of the Jefferson County 4-H Top Guns with a score of 213. Mariah Gareis of the Jefferson County 4-H Top Guns finished in third place with a score of 198 and Carlee Hidinger of the Jefferson County 4-H Top Guns finished in fourth place with a score of 192. Fifth place went to Hunter Connor of the Clearfield County 4-H Riflery Club with a score of 189. Kayla Oakes of the Jefferson County 4-H Top Guns came in sixth place with a score of 178. With a 172, Shaina Allshouse of the Jefferson County 4-H Top Guns finished in seventh place, with Macy Emerick right behind her in eighth place with a score of 171. Mark Perk of the Clearfield County 4-H Riflery Club finished in ninth place with a score of 170. There was a tie for 10th place between Cassandra Folmar of the Clearfield County 4-H Riflery Club and Hunter Wolfe of the Jefferson County 4-H Top Guns, as both came in with a score of 167. With a score of 145, John Lelless of the Jefferson County 4-H Top Guns finished in 11th place and rounding out the placings was Isacc Whitaker with a score of 122 in 12th place.
Our final age category was the senior division, which is open to youth between the ages of 16 and 18, and it had four participants.  Winning the senior division was Chelsea Folmar of the Clearfield County 4-H Riflery Club with a score of 213. Second place went to Eric Tosh of the Jefferson County 4-H Top Guns with a score of 201. With a score of 199, Nick Emerick of the Jefferson County 4-H Top Guns finished in third place and Karli Chamberlin also of the Jefferson County 4-H Top Guns finished in fourth place with a score of 195.
In addition to the individual scores, the youth were placed in teams prior to the start of competition. Teams with over four people had the lowest individual score dropped for a combines total and in some categories, where a mix of two to four participants were on a team, the scores were averaged.
In the novice division, the team of Clearfield County received first place with a combined score of 194. Team members were Dylan Kelly of Rockton, Karter Bell of Curwensville and David Smith of DuBois. In the junior division, the Jefferson County team of Victoria Barber of Brockway, Ruby Gareis of Sigel, Kyle Gotwald of Brookville and John Lelless of Sigel received first place with a combined score of 422. With a combined score of 404, the Clearfield County Team of Tanner Connor of Luthersburg, Zayne Knight of DuBois and Caleb Thompson of Reynoldsville. In third place was the Jefferson County Team of Cheyenne Gotwald of Brookville, Isaac Wolfe of Brookville and Carl Medsger of Punxsutawney with a combined score of 296.
In the intermediate division, first place went to the Jefferson County team of Shaina Allshouse of Brookville, Lance Carrier of Brookville, Carlee Hidinger of Brookville and Tyler Gotwald of Brookville with a combined score of 626. Second place, with a combined score of 547 went to the Jefferson County team of Macy Emerick of Brookville, Mariah Gareis of Sigel, Kayla Oakes and Hunter Wolfe of Brookville. Third place went to the Clearfield County team with a combined score of 475 with team members Cassandra Folmar of Luthersburg, Makayla Whaling of Luthersburg and Isaac Whitaker of DuBois.
In the senior division, the Jefferson County team of Karli Chamberlin of Brockway, Nick Emerick of Brookville and Eric Tosh of Brookville took home first place with a combined score of 595. In second place was the Clearfield County team of Hunter Connor of Luthersburg, Chelsea Folmar of Luthersburg and Mark Perk of Rockton with a combined score of 572.
For the individual competitions, first place winners received a gold medal, second place winners received a silver medal and third place winners received a bronze medal. Ribbons were awarded through sixth place in each category, as well as participation ribbons for all placings after sixth. All 4-H members and their families shared in a meal at the conclusion of the contest. In addition to a ribbon, all team participants received a gift card along with the announcement of the overall team scores.
The 4-H would like to offer a special thank you to all the volunteer leaders of Clearfield and Jefferson counties that not only helped put this program together, but continuously take the time to work with the youth on their shooting sports projects throughout the year: Scott Folmar, Crystal Folmar, Christopher Connor, Phil Kuntz and Michele Gotwald.
The 4-H is a non-formal youth development educational program of Penn State Cooperative Extension for all youth between the ages of 8 and 19, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability or handicap, national origin, race, religious creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identification, or veteran status. For additional information on the 4-H program or to locate a 4-H club in your area, contact Jana Lynne Davidson at the Penn State Extension in Clearfield County at (814) 765-7878 Ext. 3 of Susan Alexander at Penn State Extension in Jefferson County at (814) 849-7361.
