The Wolf

Creek Young Shooters Association is right on target with

its methods of teaching junior shooters.

The young

athletes performed well at the U.S.A. Shooting National

Championships at Wolf Creek recently. Three of the

shooters, Diana Hamlin Beauford, Billy Harrison and

Brandon Wayda, each won gold medals.

Beauford

won a gold in the D class in women's sport pistol. She

finished 22nd overall and second in the J2 class. J2 is

the under 17 class.

Harrison

won a gold in the A class of men's sport pistol. In the

J1 class, the top junior class, Harrison finished third

in the junior class of men's sport pistol, fifth in free

pistol, and sixth in air pistol.

Wayda took

a bronze medal in the junior class of rapid fire pistol

and a gold medal in men's junior sport pistol. Wayda

finished in second place in J2 in free pistol, air pistol

and rapid fire pistol.

The team is

coached by Wayda's father, Bill, a U.S.A. certified

shooting range officer, running events during sanctioned

contests, as well as serving as junior pistol coach for

the Wolf Creek Young Shooters. Members of the team come

from all over the state. Harrison and Wayda are both from

Peachtree City and another top shooter, Cole Beatenbaugh,

is from Coweta County.

Bill Wayda

and the crew at Wolf Creek promote safe shooting,

instructing the kids every step of the way. Most of the

kids come to the team from 4H shooting programs and they

all must take a hunter safety course before setting foot

on the range.

The team

practices every Friday at Wolf Creek for two hours. They

also participate in an event every other weekend at Wolf

Creek.

It is a

scrimmage of sorts, where all disciplines from a shooting

event are run.

The members

of the Wolf Creek Young Shooters have responded to their

teaching and to their sport. Several are heading to a

camp in Colorado Springs this summer to be instructed by

Erich Buljung, the pistol coach of the national

development team. They are ahead of the game also because

Wolf Creek is a state-of-the-art facility, an

all-electric range. There are only three other ranges

like it in the world.

The team

travels frequently during the summer, competing in

contests all over the state and region, including the

Georgia Junior Olympics and the Georgia State Games.

Members of the team also are starting to consider their

future plans; some are being recruited by branches of the

military for their field teams.

Wayda is

considering the Army marksmanship team because he has

worked with the program's coach at Fort Benning before.

He also has been told that if he were on a college team,

he would be in the top 25 in the NCAA.

For

information on the team, call 404-629-4318.

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