The Burnet County Youth 4-H Rifle team ended another year with many successful finishes. Guy Taylor, who has coached the youth in Burnet County since 1999, has seen the program start with four team members, a few older rifles, and no equipment while practicing in a cow pasture in Spicewood to one of the most successful and well-trained programs as well.
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The first major match of the year is usually held late September in Fort Worth at TCU University where the nationally ranked TCU Horned Frog Women’s Rifle Team trains.
“This is our first invitational match, where we get to use our skills in a match environment for the first time,” Taylor said. “It is time to readjust our positions and see that our equipment is in working order. This match is similar to preseason NFL football games.
“It’s more like reorientation after a long summer rest. It's also time for any new and inexperienced athletes to experience match pressure,” he added. “Unlike football, winning is not the focus, concentrating on each individual shot to make sure it is completed with perfection is more important.
“The process of the shot is more important than the outcome of the shot. Perfect process leads to a perfect shot”. “If you don’t perfect the process you can forget about the perfect shot.”
Even though it was the year's first major match the team still managed to finish all in the top 50% of the competitors.
“We also had our first para-athlete to compete in a major match,” Taylor continued. “Esther Frayne joined the team last year.
“This was her first match shooting as a para-athlete in a non 4-H match.”
The next major match for the team was the USA Shooting Junior Olympic Qualifiers and State Championships held in November and December 2025.
This match is the largest match for junior athletes in the state with over 130 athletes and has to be held across four locations including, Fort Worth, El Paso, Granbury, and San Antonio.
“This is their first major competition against not only high school but also athletes in their first two years of college.”
He added that Burnet County walked away with several awards against these athletes and beat many of them.
Elaina Marr took first place in the Under 15 category in women’s small bore, and Adler Stanley took silver beating his older brother Klein Stanley who took the bronze medal in men’s small bore.
Klein also took the bronze medal in men’s Air Rifle. The team's first paralympic athlete, Esther Frayne, did not have enough in her category for an award but did shoot a high enough score to qualify for the national Junior Olympics in Alabama in April of 2026. Esther received a gold medal at the national competition for her efforts as a para athlete. Evan Kaspar also qualified in Air Pistol to attend the pistol championships at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Evan was the first air pistol shooter from the club to qualify for the Junior Olympic National Championship.
After the winter holidays the team traveled to Camp Perry Ohio to compete at the Winter Air Nationals. This event is held in January and since it’s on the banks of the Great Lakes you can expect a winter wonderland for these Texas kids. Last year the team posted only three scores above the 600-point score. This year they had eight scores higher than the 600 point benchrest. Two more scores were in the upper 590’s.
According to Taylor, “This match was a good indicator that their training and facilities are making a difference as we look towards major matches this spring.
“They handled the travel and pressure against national competitors well. For qualification to the national match the team had to score a very high score. The team placed 10th out of 94 nationally ranked teams,” he added. “Only one Texas team placed higher, the nationally known Granbury JROTC team. This was a good test and match to use to evaluate our program and training.”
February allowed a rest and smaller match held in Burnet at the Texas Youth Shooting Sports Facility. Due to the smaller facility the match is limited to 30 athletes. Many athletes traveled from as far as Lubbock. Burnet County 4-H Showed its depth again with several first-place finishes. Elaina Marr and Adler Stanley finished 1st and 2nd in the under 15 years old category while Klein Stanley and Harper Sitra finished 1st and second in the Under 18 category. Riley Smith, of Llano, also finished first in the under 21 category.
Two other smaller scholarship and charity matches are held by “Friend of Flint” and “Big Lake” Sponsored by Wilson County 4-H. At these matches team members not only took home the top awards in each category but also thousands of dollars in scholarships.
These two events are great matches for the kids to fine tune their skills and support two great charitable organizations.
The Civilian Marksman Program also held their state championships in February with Burnet County kids placing third in the state only to be beaten by two former national champions.
It was at the San Angelo Texas that the team really showed their depth and skills. The 4-H District 7 match is held in San Angelo in April and Burnet County competes against 27 other counties to the west. San Angelo is famous for its high winds and unpredictable weather.
At the district match there are 15 first place buckles awarded for team members as well as individuals in three different age categories. The Burnet County 4-H Team brought all 15 of the $150 first-place custom buckles home. This was the third time in the last 5 years that the team won all 15 first place awards.
The first-place awards include first place Junior, Intermediate, and Senior teams as well as first place individual junior, intermediate, and senior. The first three teams also qualify to compete in the Texas 4-H Championships in Victoria in April.
For the first time in the last 26 years two Burnet County teams finished first and third and qualified for state. Usually there has only been one Burnet County team to qualify. Llano County 4-H was the second-place winner to qualify.
At the State 4-H Championship the Burnet County kids have placed in the top three five years in a row, winning it twice as a team and three times as an individual.
They have never placed lower than third place. This year they fell a little short, losing to the winning team from Kendall County by only eight points (1675x31 to 1667x43).
“We had a very young team this year with only one graduating senior who is being recruited by colleges”.
The kids gave it their best but all fell a little short of their averages. Still, it was a very strong finish to a more experienced and older team with two college bound athletes. The second team from Burnet County to compete in the state championships finished a strong fourth place to show depth and strong youth.
“We are all very young, all but two of the Burnet County teams members will return next year with two to three more years of eligibility,” Taylor said. “It is going to be fun watching these kids hang around for several more years and grow.”
Burnet County 4-H Team will be searching for third and fourth graders interested in Olympic style rifle competitions. If you have a child who resides in Burnet County that may be interested you can contact Taylor at email: [email protected].
If you would like more information about the team and facilities go to these web pages.
Burnet County 4-H Facebook page.
