National Shooting Championship
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Youth from St. Helena Xanten cleans up
The Xanten juniors won at the national championships (standing from left): Felix Meckl, Timon Seelen, Niklas Meckl, Annika Engelhardt, Annika Kropmann, Anna Lena Kropmann; kneeling (from left): Franziska Driessen, Julian Erbsland and Jared Haas.
Photo: Irene Meckl
Xanten The offspring of St. Helena Xanten was more successful than ever at this year’s national championships. The eleven marksmen won ten titles and other medals. The association invests a lot of time and passion in youth work.
The youngsters from St. Helena Xanten have not yet returned to the Fürstenberg from a federal championship in target shooting with such a large number of titles. The youngsters of the club were at the top of the podium alone ten times in the individual and team rankings. There were also silver and bronze medals. “The great performance goes with the particularly successful year 2022,” said Irene Meckl, the deputy youth leader of the Xanten sports shooters, who have no worries regarding young people. “We have a number of new registrations. We don’t have the problems that many other clubs have been complaining regarding since the beginning of the Corona crisis,” she continued.
Eleven Xanten shooters took part in the federal championships in Erftstadt-Gymnich, which can be compared to national title fights of other associations. The level in the various disciplines was sometimes very high.
First it was up to the youngsters from Xanten with the air rifle (LG), free standing, for medals. Franziska Driessen (298 rings) secured gold for the girls. Anna Lena Kropmann finished fourth (293), her sister Annika was ninth (287). As a team, the trio left all of the competition behind with 878 points. Felix Meckl (272) and Timon Seelen (271) finished ninth and tenth. Also in the discipline small caliber, 3-position, the Xantener convinced. The title went to Anna Lena Kropmann (288), Franziska Driessen came in second (286).
In the school age group, Julian Erbsland came fourth and just missed the podium with the air rifle (259). Jared Haas (257) and Wotan Schuries (254) lined up directly behind him. Emma Esser (256) achieved a place in the top 20. Amadea Kropmann (276) was able to celebrate bronze. The title went to Annika Engelhardt (288), who was directly successful in her first championship. Together with Jared Haas and Wotan Schuries, she finished second in the team ranking (799). Third place also went to Helene with 791 rings with Amadea Kropmann, Julian Erbsland and Emma Esser.
The youth had to fire 60 prone shots in the small caliber OM discipline (Olympic Match). Anna Lena Kropmann (590) also won here and relegated Franziska Driessen to silver (587). Niklas Meckl (546) started in the next age group and finished fifth there as the best boy in the field. In addition, the three secured the team title with 1723 rings.
The last discipline was shooting in the LG, 3-position. There the Domstädter once once more showed all their skills. Anna Lena Kropmann secured her third championship title with 298 rings. Annika Kropmann (290) followed in second place. Together with Timon Seelen (279 rings), the two won team gold. In the individual, the title also went to Timon Seelen ahead of Felix Meckl (275). And the students from St. Helena rounded out the strong overall result. Julian Erbsland (280) grabbed the bronze medal as the youngest in this discipline. With 296 rings, a personal best, Niklas Meckl won his first federal championship title.
The great performance in Erftstadt-Gymnich confirmed the Xanten club in its youth work with a five-person support team. “It’s not just training at the shooting range that’s important to us. We offer various excursions for our youngsters throughout the year – that goes down very well,” says Irene Meckl.
