Quincy High School rifle team coach Jim Holtman, right, discusses the characteristics of a rifle to Quincy Public Schools Superintendent Roy Webb, left, before Web shoots the firearm Thursday at the rifle range at Quincy Junior High School. Listening the conversation is assistant team coach Ben Trapini. | H-W Photo/Phil Carlson

Posted: Apr. 26, 2018 8:50 pm Updated: Apr. 26, 2018 10:34 pm

QUINCY -- Kaleb Gille steadied himself before taking aim at the target and pulling the air rifle's trigger.

Alexis Giffin carefully focused before shooting at her own target, and so did Quincy Public Schools Superintendent Roy Webb.

Posting the better scores were Kaleb and Alexis, Quincy High School seniors and members of the school's rifle team headed to a national shooting competition in June in Ohio.

The School Board and QPS officials toured the rifle range at Quincy Junior High School this week before recognizing the rifle team and Coach Jim Holtman for another successful season.

"I've always said this is such a flagship program for us," Board President Sayeed Ali said. "You're too good. Every school year's it's state championship, national qualifier. We just kind of take it for granted."

Teams must shoot a minimum of 2,280 out of 2,400 to qualify for nationals.

"We squeaked in with 2,284, but one point is as good as 100 at that point," Holtman said. "Once you've qualified, then the playing field is level again. Everybody starts from scratch."

The trip to nationals wraps up a season that started in September and ended in March. Team members practice four days a week after school at the range, in its 71st year of operation.

'I'm looking forward to going back and doing it all over again," Gille said. "I shot my personal best in nationals last year. I'm hoping to get that again and just have a good experience."

Holtman said the sport draws about 40 new students each year, fields two varsity teams of four shooters each and operates on donations from businesses and the community.

"We take a lot of students who have never even handled a gun before and turn them into national champs, but I've always said they have to do the hard work. I give them the road map. They have to do the work," said Holtman, who started with the program in 2000 as an assistant coach and has been head coach since 2008.

"One of the nice things about shooting sports is you don't have to be tall like basketball, big like football or run fast like track as long as you have good eye-hand coordination, the ability to concentrate on one process at a time," he said. "Shooting is kind of the fine art of standing still. Other sports pump athletes up. In our sport, we calm them down. The more they can relax, concentrate on the job at hand, the better they can do."

What the team members take away is more than lessons in marksmanship.

"We teach fair play, attention to detail, discipline, a lot of things that are important in everyday life," Holtman said. "It's not just pointing at the target and squeezing the trigger."

Gille said the sport's long season, with its ups and downs, helps the team learn about dedication.

"We'll get points where you're not doing well, not doing what you want, and you have to fight your way out of that," he said. "It builds character."

Gille and a friend tried out for the team as freshmen, made it and did well enough to compete twice in the Junior Olympics. Giffin, who has been around guns all of her life, followed a suggestion from her dad to get involved with the team. "I really enjoy working with my coaches and the people on our team," she said. "Our coaches have more faith in us than we do in ourselves."

Students shoot standing, kneeling and prone with special clothing helping to support them in each position.

"It's almost a balancing act," said assistant coach Ben Trapini, a team member who graduated in 2013 and is in his fourth year of working with Holtman. "I want them to come away with a sense of accomplishment that what they set their mind to they can actually achieve."

What Holtman calls a "misunderstood" sport fills a niche for students who can fit in, excel, succeed and compete all the way to the national level.

"Right now guns are being demonized, but it's not anything evil," he said. "It's an enjoyable pastime done by millions of people. Unfortunately there's a few bad eggs out there making it bad for everybody."