Top guns

At 18, Tennessee shotgunner Jamie Riggs is already giving the sport's established athletes a run for their money — and she hasn't even graduated from high school, yet.

Riggs' success has already been predicted by handicappers, who sat up and took notice when Riggs began shooting two years ago.

"I loved it from the very beginning," Riggs said. "I absolutely loved (the Great Outdoor Games event format) when I shot at the Seminole Cup in Florida. It's a real adrenaline rush."

Currently, Riggs holds the U.S. Junior Ladies' Championship title - but the real topic that set the target sports community buzzing was an exhibition shoot at the Alabama State Championships last week between Riggs and Great Outdoor Games silver medalist and former U.S. National Champion Tre Sides.

Riggs and Sides went to the limit at the competition, going through several rounds of perfect scores and dropping down to two-second intervals between targets before Sides won. The margin? A single target.

"It was, by all accounts, a hot event," said Paul Erhardt of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the sport organizer for the Great Outdoor Games shotgun competition.

Sides, of Montgomery, Ala., agreed.

"She's going to wear some folks out, I can tell you that right now," he said. "She's been practicing every day. It's going to be hard to beat her.

"I hope I don't draw her first. She's got a real good chance of winning."

Speaking of competition

When Tre Sides wasn't squaring off with the younger set, he managed to pick up his eighth Alabama State Championship title. And, far from taking a break between now and the Games, he'll be heading up to the U.S. Open in Maryland later this month.

How does Sides like his odds at the Open, an event that draws a huge field of shooters?

"It'll depend on who can hold out for three days straight," Sides said. "It's always hard to win a tournament if there are 1,000 people shooting against you."

The great volunteer roundup

Great Outdoor Games volunteer coordinator Brett Taylor reports than 80 percent of the volunteer spots for the July Games have been filled, but that there are still plenty of opportunities for spectators and Reno-Tahoe residents to get an insider's view of their favorite events.

For volunteer applications and information, visit www.greatoutdoorgames.com.

For more information about the ESPN Great Outdoor Games, contact ESPN Outdoors Communications at (334) 551-2375.