Boxborough, Mass., native takes first in firearms speed shooting competition

U.S. Coast Guard Academy First Class Cadet Alex Webber, 22, of Boxborough, Mass., poses for a photograph with a trophy and steel shooting target Friday, Dec. 2, 2011, at the academy's gun range in New London, Conn. Webber is one of four team members from the Coast Guard Academy Combat Arms Team who competed in and won the Scholastic Steel Challenge's 2011 Fall Collegiate Championship. U.S. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 1st Class NyxoLyno Cangemi

A Boxborough, Mass., native is one of four members from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Combat Arms Team who won the Scholastic Steel Challenge’s 2011 Fall Collegiate Championship – a firearms speed shooting competition.

First Class Cadet Alex Webber, 22, competed Nov. 12 in Epping, N.H., along with 14 of his classmates from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. In all, 43 competitors from four different colleges competed during the match.

Webber, along with three other team members from the academy, took first place in the competition.

“I've been on the team for three years and this year was a nice change of pace to do only speed shooting as opposed to speed and accuracy," said Webber. "It was definitely a shifting of the skills to try and push us into the lead - which we did."

"It was nice to win but it was really great for the new guys. We were able to walk them through their first competition ever and they showed tremendous potential. This is my last year on the team and I feel satisfied that I've taught them well enough to fill my shoes after seeing them shoot this past performance."

(From left) U.S. Coast Guard Academy Second Class Cadet Jake Naum, Second Class Cadet Barton Nanney, Rear Adm. Sandra Stosz, Second Class Cadet Jon Sapundjieff and First Class Cadet Alex Webber pose for a photo Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. U.S. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 1st Class NyxoLyno Cangemi

The Scholastic Steel Challenge is a national team-oriented youth shooting program developed by the Steel Challenge Shooting Association and funded in part by a grant from the National Shooting Sports Foundation. The program offers the opportunity to compete as a four-person team for a national title in the action pistol discipline of speed shooting.

“The U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s Combat Arms Team put in an outstanding performance at the Collegiate Spring Championship. As SSC expands at the collegiate level, the cadets are likely to remain at, or near, the top of each match,” said Scott Moore, director of the Scholastic Steel Challenge.

The academy’s three registered squads placed first, fourth and fifth in the challenge.

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