Shelley Rae: Behind the scenes at Steel Challenge

The Steel Challenge World Championship has been held for the last 30 years in Piru, Calif. Top shooters from all over the world travel to take part in the speed and accuracy competition. There are many women working hard both in the shooting box and behind the scenes to make this match a huge success.

 

Randi Rogers. Photo by Shelley Rae.

Steel Challenge is comprised of eight stages: Accelerator, Pendulum, Speed Option, Smoke & Hope, Showdown, Roundabout and Outer Limits. Each stage has a variety of steel plates of different sizes set up at different distances from a single shooting box, or in the case of Showdown and Outer Limits, sets of two shooting boxes. The variety of stages test the shooter’s speed and accuracy with their firearms as well as their ability to strategize.

Shooting in this year’s competition were a group of unbelievably skilled women. Jessie Harrison, of Leupold, went home this year with a stack of trophies, taking “High Lady” in the Limited, Open and Rimfire divisions.Randi Rogers, of Team Glock, was also there competing in Limited, Open and Rimfire, where she took “Second Lady” in both Open and Limited.  Brooke, of Sevigny Performance, who has only been shooting for four months, took her third major match by storm taking “Second Lady” in the Rimfire division and competing in Open and Limited as well.

Jessie Harrison. Photo by Robb Allen.

One of the highlights of Steel Challenge was seeing Jessie Harrison take fourth overall in the Rimfire division. Not only did Jessie sweep the competition among the ladies, but is coming ever closer to attaining an overall win.
 There were also some impressive junior competitors – including Janae Sarabia, who took “High Junior” in Open, Limited and Rimfire; Molly Smith, who took “High Lady,” shooting Iron Sight Revolver; and Rachael Crowe, who shot Optic Revolver and took “High Lady” in Production as well.

There were also many women working hard behind the scenes to make this match a success. Acting as range officers, score keepers and volunteering in a variety of capacities, these ladies keep shooters safe, scoring accurate and keep the match running on time and as smoothly as possible.
 Women have become an integral part of our sport and the operation of major matches. Keep working hard and shooting fast, ladies!

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    The Women's Outdoor News, aka The WON, features news, reviews and stories about women who are shooting, hunting, fishing and actively engaging in outdoor adventure. This publication is for women, by women.