Twenty-two stages and multiple moving and stationary targets—all in Hurricane, Utah.
It’s the U.S. Practical Shooting Association’s Open and Limited 10 National Handgun Championships.
“Basically, for most folks this is sort of a culmination of the year. It’s also one of the most difficult matches from a shooting-test standpoint,” explains Dave Re, a practical shooting grand master who works at CrossFit Inc. headquarters in Scotts Valley, Calif. Re is competing at the championships alongside Dave Castro, Director of the CrossFit Games and CrossFit Director of Training.
The sport requires a solid foundation of physical fitness, which is why several participants also train at CrossFit affiliates near their homes.
Athena Lee, a practical shooting grand master who has been competing in the sport for 22 years, is a member of CrossFit Katy in Texas.
“Once that beep goes off, you just zone out and just start shooting as fast and accurate as you can,” she says of the matches.
Nonetheless, competitors still get nervous.
“I call it ‘the juice,’” says practical shooting grand master Shannon Smith, who trains at CrossFit Lakeland in Florida. “If you’re not out here feelin’ the juice, then what’s the point? You’re just a bull’s-eye then.”
Video by Marston Sawyers.
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Additional reading: CrossFit’s Right on Target by Dave Re, published March 29, 2009.