Walstra earns reps at shooting nationals

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

Alberta’s top shot took aim at a national title earlier this month in Ontario.
Strathmore’s Sam Walstra recently returned from the Canadian National Rifle Championships Aug. 1-2, in Cookstown, where she competed in a two-day relay air gun event.
Walstra, who has only been shooting since her 13th birthday, was competing at the national level for the first time.
“I definitely felt some extra pressure when I got to the range for the first day of shooting. Realizing that I was finally reaching my goal of attending nationals really weighed on me,” said Walstra. “That, and it was really hot and humid in the range, which threw me off on the first day.”
Upon arrival, Walstra and the other shooters were allowed one practice session to try to get the feel for the new surroundings. Walstra was shooting shorthanded: her coaching staff didn’t make the trip with her, but kept in close contact with her throughout the weekend.
Coming into the weekend, she had a goal of shooting 380 each day — on par with her average.
Taking 40 shots each round, each shot is rewarded a point score, ranging from 0.0 up to 10.9. At the end of each round, her shots were totalled and combined with the scores from the following day. Of the 24 contestants, only the top eight shooters advanced to the finals.
Walstra came out and sniped a 379.3 on day one, right in line with her goal, despite the sweltering conditions.
“It was so hot and humid in there, it was really taking my focus away from the shooting. After the round, I took some time to sit down and figure out where I went wrong and what I could improve on moving forward. I spoke with my coaches and we agreed that I was overthinking each shot and that I needed to shoot the perfect shot each time,” said Walstra.
A cleared mind and steady hands allowed Walstra to nearly shatter her personal best on the second day of shooting. Her 390.6 was three points shy of her personal best and landed her a two-day total of 769.9.
Unfortunately for the Strathmore sniper, it also left her outside the Top 8, in 20th place. She needed to be in the low 800s to advance.
Despite missing out on the medal round, the fire only burns brighter inside Walstra.
As a 16-year-old, she was on the younger side of the competition, which ranges up to 19. She is already figuring out how to get back to nationals next summer.
“I know what I need to focus on, now it’s all about training and getting better. I think I can get to the top eight if I just train more and get out of my own head during the competition,” said Walstra.
The trip also allowed her to visit a new part of the country. Competing just outside of Toronto, she was able to take some time to scale the CN Tower, check out the Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada and log some quality beach time.