Buntain finds his wait worthwhile

Saturday, July 21, 2007

By Scott Nuzum

Herald-Tribune

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- Stephen Buntain, son of Gary and Theresa Buntain, won state medals in 4-H shooting competition last summer but opted not to go to national competition because he felt he wasn't quite ready yet.

The wait was worth it as Buntain, who will be a senior at Fort Scott High this year, took first place overall at the National 4-H Shooting Sports Competition at Rapid City, S. D., which was held June 25-28. Buntain competed in three events, placing second in two and third in the other, using a small-bore rifle.

"There was some extra pressure," Buntain said. "I didn't really notice it until the day of the very first competition."

Silhouettes was the first event in which Buntain competed. There was actually a three-way tie for first but he was placed second on a tie-breaker that was based on who was most successful at 100 yards.

"That is my worst event," Buntain said. "I felt fine until they said to begin firing and then nerves started shaking me up a little bit. About halfway through, I settled down."

Buntain was also part of a three-man team from Kansas in silhouettes. He, Andy Swoyer and Marty Lager combined to finish in fourth place.

CMP, which stands for Civilian Marksmanship Program, was the next event. This is an event similar to the final event, precision, but the shooters don't get to use any special equipment.

"It's a sporting version of precision," Buntain explained. "CMP uses a light rifle and you don't get to use the extra equipment that you would for precision. That makes it just the shooter's ability and not what they can do with extra help."

After finishing second in CMP, Buntain went to the final event, precision. He placed third in that event but it was enough to win the overall title as the person who was leading finished fifth.

"You get to use the heavier rifle," Buntain said, "leather jackets, leather pants, basically to make your body a little heavier and stable. You get to use a thick glove, which is to keep your pulse from coming through and bumping the rifle."

There was a little extra tension after the final event while waiting for the final results to be released.

"In the other two events, this girl placed first in both," Buntain said. "They were posting how we did before the award ceremonies each night. (I knew) I had to beat her by at least two places to tie overall and three places to win.

"It got kind of exciting, because on the last night, they were having trouble with the computers, sending information from the range to the hotel where we had the award ceremonies," he added. "So they didn't have them posted that night before right away, so that made everyone a little nervous. We had to wait an extra two hours but they still didn't post how everyone did."

With his experience in last year's state competition under his belt, Buntain went into this year's nationals with confidence.

"I was pretty happy (with winning) but it wasn't an absolute shock," he said. "I expected myself to do well. I told myself before we left, 'I don't intend to lose. I expect to win.'

"I knew I was going to have some tough competition. But I knew if I did the absolute best I could in the conditions -- which were windy most of the time -- I knew I'd do real well."

A competitor can go to 4-H nationals only once in each discipline. So over this coming year, Buntain will be working on his skills with the pistol so he can attempt to win another championship next summer.