Calhoun shooter competes at Olympic trials

Kelly Bogart is like many dedicated Calhoun High School students. Heavily involved in clubs and sports, the 18-year-old senior is a member of the concert choir and Science Olympiads, and has participated on the lacrosse and track teams. She’s also in two Advanced Placement classes. Each day before school, she packs her pens, pencils and notebooks. The only difference is that she also carries a .117 caliber air rifle. Hey, they don’t call her “Shooter” for nothing.

Bogart is a member of the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District's rifle team, which comprises boys and girls from Calhoun, Mepham and Kennedy high schools. In the past year, she has qualified for the state high school championships at West Point Military Academy and the Junior Olympics in Colorado Springs, and in December, she traveled to Alabama to participate in the U.S. Olympic trials.

Sharpshooting skills run in the family, as Bogart’s father, Greg, has been shooting since he was 12 and received a full scholarship to St. John’s University to compete on the rifle team. Bogart, however, said she didn’t even look at a gun until she arrived at high school.

“I didn’t know Calhoun had a rifle team until my freshman year,” Bogart said. “I thought, ‘I’m way too short for basketball, so I might as well try it.’ I kind of just picked it up by chance.”

Shooting for the first time only a month before team tryouts, she hit the black –– the center of the target –– during her first practice round. Awing spectators, Bogart said she was asked, “That’s the first time you ever shot and you hit the black?”

The Bellmore-Merrick team fires compressed air rifles powered by carbon dioxide, Bogart said. The pressurized air fills the gun and pushes the pellet out. Bogart wears ear plugs and a safety vest to protect herself, but she noted that riflery “is probably one of the safest sports.”

Nine Nassau County high schools have rifle teams. In matches, six shooters from each school take their shots, and the top four scores for each side are averaged for the team score. Hitting the center of the target counts for 10 points, and being just a little off will result in points being deducted.