A UNIVERSITY staff won a championship trophy in the 2nd Regional Director’s Invitational Shootfest held at the RSTU Firing Range in Camp Adduru, Tuguegarao City, Aug. 16-19. The competition was hosted by the Itawes Practical Shooters Association, Inc.

Reynaldo E. Andres, information officer III and staff of the Ilocos Agriculture and Resources Research and Development Consortium (ILARRDEC), was one of the 20-strong Province of Ilocos Norte (PIN) shooters who won a championship trophy in the media category. Other members of the team won first runner up in the production category; first runner up, junior category; and fourth, fifth, and sixth places in the standard and modified divisions. Other divisions included in the competition were open and revolver.  Andres beat other shooters in the media category using his licensed high capacity Tanfoglio caliber .9 mm pistol.

Although Team Ilocos Norte arrived late at the firing range in the afternoon of Aug. 18, engineer Gregorio Nalupta III, former MMSU employee who acted as team leader, decided that the team members should take a serious physical rest to prepare for the next day’s competition.

The competition consisted of seven stages and the shooters were evaluated on the number of bull’s eyes hit, speed, and accuracy. For instance, Stage 1 is a situation where a shooter engages several terrorists who have taken several hostages inside a two-door apartment, while Stage 6 is a situation where a shooter is expected to engage several terrorists who barge in his house while he and his family members are relaxing on a sofa. The other stages were situations in an open terrain, hanging bridges, selective targets, and a tunnel.

The shooters with the highest number of points earned, plus the shortest time element done to hit all the targets and accomplish all the stages were declared champions.

The competition was attended by 136 practical shooters from Ilocos Norte, Cagayan, Isabela, Quirino, Tarlac, Pampanga, and Nueva Viscaya. Shooters were members of the PNP, AFP, IBP, clergy, and civilians who included those in the print and broadcast media. Andres in a member of the El Vibora Practical Shooters’s Association in Batac City and is a correspondent of  local and national print media.