The St. Louis U. High Rifle team has continued to make adjustments to their safety protocols in an effort to keep all shooters on the line. With so many necessary adjustments, the shooters have found it difficult to maintain the consistency they demonstrated in previous years.

The rifle team has implemented several changes to limit the spread of COVID-19. Due to the number of shooters, maintaining a social distance on the line would be virtually impossible, so the team has resorted to using shower curtains as dividers to separate the shooters. 

The curtains hang from two wires running parallel to the firing line, allowing them to be pushed and moved if space allows. With these new additions, the team can have up to 12 shooters on the line. While these curtains are a great addition that enable the team to have more shooters, they do have drawbacks.

Prior to the dividers there was an airflow in the range, but due to the nature of the dividers there is no possibility for airflow making the range very hot and in turn very uncomfortable for the shooters. 

“We use fans to keep the air moving, but we can’t do that anymore because the shower curtains will blow around,” said senior and team captain Ryan Janson. “It gets really hot up on the line with all the gear.” 

In addition to the dividers, shooters have found it difficult to wear masks while shooting; the masks are required at all times during shooting. 

While wearing masks, shooters have an additional piece of fabric that makes it more difficult to hold a steady position on the cheek rest. Additionally, it is another piece of fabric that creates heat and uncomfortability for the shooter.

“I found myself constantly having to change position and wiping the sweat and condensation off,” said junior Grant Grabowski. “It definitely took some getting used to.”

In rifle, consistency is key, and any major change to that consistency can throw a shooter off. When that constant repetition is interrupted with masks or dividers, it takes time to regain consistency once again. 

“I hope everyone can adjust and be better,” said Janson. “But the truth is rifle is a sport of repetition and these new changes can throw the best athletes off their game.”

The most significant change, however, is not a physical change. The social distancing and max range capacity has removed much of what made the rifle team the rifle team. Part of being on the team was the comradery of long bus drives and spending nights in hotels with your friends. With the new changes, much of that aspect of the rifle team has been lost.

“The real negative I see is that distancing and capacity restrictions that keep the team from being together and socializing,” said head coach Will Bresnahan. “I worry about the team becoming a collection of independent contractors and not a cohesive unit.”

While these new changes have had major impacts on the shooters and forced them to readjust their routine, the team members welcome the changes if it means they can resume shooting. 

“I may not have the luxury of convenience or being comfortable,” said Janson. “We have made the best out of a bad situation, and we hope to continue to achieve at the same level we did pre-COVID.”