by Steve Cooper
USMC Sgt Luis Esparza
won the President’s Pistol
Trophy Match.
CMP Writer
To the applause and shouts of “Oo- Rah” from fellow Marines at the National Trophy Pistol Match Awards ceremony at Hough Auditorium on July 15, Sgt Luis Esparza charged up the stairs to the stage and was recognized for winning the 2012 President’s Pistol Trophy, among a field of 544 competitors.
Esparza, 23, fired a 386-12X aggregate of a possible 400, in a highlycompetitive match among many of the nation’s top service pistol shooters. Esparza held off three US Army Marksmanship Unit competitors, SFC James Henderson, 45, SFC Thomas Rose, 36, and SPC Greg Markowski, 38, all of whom were tied for second at 384, separated by Xring tiebreakers.
Henderson (384-12X) posed the closest challenge to Esparza, matching the Marine’s 100 in timed fire, but Esparza’s strong 190 in slow fire proved to be the difference. Rose fired a 194 in slow fire and a 99 in timed fire, but he dropped nine points in rapid fire.
Steve Turner, 45, of Elmhurst, IL, enjoyed his ninth year at Camp Perry, participating in all pistol matches throughout the NRA program and CMP National Trophy matches. “I’m really happy to be out here – spending a week with people who don’t think I’m crazy for coming out here!” he said.
Robert McIlhaney, 63, of Allentown, PA, was the high M1911 shooter in the match (366-12X); Judy Tant, 62, of E. Lansing, MI, was high woman (357-5X) and Philip Hemphill, 60, of Clinton, MS, was the high senior in the match (379-12X). The top 100 shooters, known as the President’s Hundred, were also recognized at the awards ceremony and this year’s cut-off was 345-8X, fired by Alan Toler, 51, of Richmond, VA. rapid fire, Franks opened his performance with a 93 in slow fire.
The USAMU Blue team won the Gold Cup Trophy, awarded to the highest overall scoring team in four-person National Trophy Team Match (NTT).
Firing members are SGT Lawrence Cleveland, SFC Thomas Rose, SSG Patrick Franks Jr., and SFC James Henderson. USAMU Blue has won the Gold Cup Trophy for the past six years.
USMC Scarlet placed second with a team aggregate score of 1121-27X.
Team members were Esparza, Cpl Carl Clegg, Sgt Peyton Hebert and Sgt Patrick Saleh. All Guard Pistol Team Powell placed third in the NTT Gold Cup competition with a combined score of 1083-22X. The All Guard Powell team is comprised of SSG Timothy Barber, SSG Eric Lawrence, MSG Mitchell Henson and SFC Ralph Young.
For the second year in a row, the Arizona State Rifle & Pistol Association’s name will be engraved on the Oglethorpe Trophy. Team ASRPA was the High Civilian Team firing in the National Trophy Team Match firing a 1066-21X. Team members were Timothy Copley, Robert Throne Jr., Steve Reiter and John Zurek.
