Most people don’t think of marksmanship as a high school sport. One of White Station’s lesser-known teams is the rifle team. Junior Gus Gottlieb has been a member of the rifle team since his freshman year and has been an instrumental part of their rise in the rankings and their achievements in shooting matches.

Matches consist of shooting targets from various positions. The targets are thirty feet away from the cadets. Cadets must shoot ten targets from each of three positions – prone (lying down), kneeling, and standing – to earn a possible one hundred points from each position.

Fall is shooting season for the cadets. At that time, all rifle teams in the county are divided up into brigades, which are like brackets.

Shelby County Schools is divided into five brigades and the top eight teams among the brigades move on to compete in a City match, which is like a championship. The top teams that emerge continue on to the seventh brigade competition, which covers multiple states.

White Station’s competition rifle team consists of Gottlieb, senior Jonathan Alvarenga, sophomore Joshua McKinney, and sophomore Joshua Gilbert.

Training for shooting matches mainly consists of the cadets shooting targets over and over and over again to continue to improve their aim. Arm strength exercises are also important because the cadets must hold the heavy guns in front of their bodies for long periods of time.

Gottlieb has led the team as its captain for the past two years. He joined JROTC and the rifle team at White Station as a freshman because many of his friends were doing it. Now, he is just about the only one of them who remains a cadet and does so, quite simply, because he enjoys it.

“It’s strangely relaxing,” said Gottlieb of the perks of shooting. “You have to control your breathing. It’s almost like meditating. I’ve always kind of liked guns, and I’m pretty competitive.”

Gottlieb placed fourth individually in the city for his marksmanship abilities, and this year the team won first place in their brigade and third place in the whole city. This is the first time the team has won a trophy in over a decade, and they will advance to the seventh brigade competition later this year.