The 2004 Area 6 Championship took place on May 1st and 2nd in Summerville, SC. Linda Chico was the statistician and did a great job of getting the scores out in a timely manner despite the weather conditions. In fact, the last shot was not fired until 8:30pm on Saturday but Linda was at the match hotel by 9:00pm with scores. When it comes time for me to run a match, I know who my statistician will be! There were a total of 278 shooters at this year's competition. This was the first Area match of 2004, so plenty of the top shooters came out to claim the first big match of the year, including 19 Grand Masters!

Before we left for the match we checked out the weather channel and realized that it was probably going to be a pretty miserable weekend. We were hoping that the weather man was wrong but only time would tell. We arrived on Friday and the weather was great. Once again, we hoped the weather would remain this way for the entirety of the match. I guess Mother Nature had other plans, as it was miserable shooting conditions. The weather was so bad that the match officials had to throw out stage 9, as it was no longer safe to shoot. The match was now made up of 8 GREAT stages with nearly 250 rounds.

Chris Tilley and I would battle it out for another match, but this one would be in the rain. The first stage of the match was when it was raining its hardest. Chris and I were in the same squad and also shot back to back on every stage. Because of the weather, this allowed for the fairest competition possible. Chris took stage 1 by about 2.5 points. I thought, here we go again, another points battle to the end. But for the remainder of the match I shot really well. It seemed as the rain fell and the conditions on the ground got worse, I just got better. I fully accepted the weather and just shot. I was really happy with some of my performances and felt I couldn't have done them any better on dry ground. I would go on to win the last 7 stages of the match! The results are as follows:

Results Open:
1. Max Michel 100%
2. Chris Tilley 91%
3. David Christen 89%

This was a great match! There we so many staff personnel, that on most of the stages the shooters didn't even have to past targets. We truly appreciate all of the RO's great work at the match! We know the weather was horrible but you guys stuck it out. Thank you!

I recommend this match to everyone for next year! I heard a rumor that it may be in Atlanta, GA then. I'll keep my fingers crossed as that is only about 2 hrs. from my house!

Until next time,
Max Michel, Jr.