By Anna Brown – Union County News
USC Union Rifle Team Capt. Brianna Fish has added another gold medal to her collection. Fish won the medal in Sectional Junior Air Rifle Precision Standing during a National Rifle Association competition held on Feb. 28 in Walhalla. USC Union interim Dean Dr. Randy Lowell presented the medal to Fish on Sept. 14 at Truluck Gymnasium. The presentation of the medal was postponed because of COVID-19 concerns. “This is very impressive,” Lowell said. “She is going to make a great future nurse as she works to get in the BSN program.”
USC Union Rifle Team Coach Doug Gilliam said Fish shot 60 rounds in the standing position- the most difficult shooting stance. Gilliam said Fish, a former Air Force JROTC National Champion, came to USC Union well-coached. “She works hard and is very motivated,” Gilliam said. “She comes to me and says, ‘Can I go practice,’ Gilliam said. Fish said she is enjoying attending USC Union and her classes.
Gilliam said he hopes the Rifle Team will grow in its second year at USC Union. He said school officials have been very supportive. He said a woman he does not know who lives in another city recently called and offered to the school the shooting jacket she used when she competed. “She said, ‘I am sending it to you for free,'” Gilliam said.
Gilliam said when he was coaching the Union County High School Rifle team and taking them to competitions, he said often heard Fish’s name- she was a member of the Clover High School Air Force JROTC Marksmanship Team. Competing for Clover, Fish won an Air Force Individual National Championship, Air Force Team National Championship, Orion Air Rifle League Air Force Championship, Fish earned the highly coveted Distinguished Shooter Badge as well as many other awards and titles.
In 2019, Gilliam became the coach for the only club Rifle Team in the USC system and Fish became the only member. Fish qualified to compete in the National Championship at Fort Benning, Ga., in March, She did this after outshooting the entire Clemson University Rifle Team Club in the Colllegiate Air Rifle Sectional Championship match at the University of North Georgia on Jan. 18. Clemson won the club championship the year before as a team and Fish outshot them. Only one person had a higher score than Fish, a Georgia Military College student who is a veteran shooter.
Gilliam said there is a good chance Fish will get to shoot against the entire Clemson team again as the season progresses.
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