By Alfredo Rico
When standing among her competitors, Lara Spanic’s youth and joyful spirit shines brightly through the forest of men who are two to three times her age. But once she gets behind a rifle, she transforms into a confident, take-no-prisoners competitor. As the match commences, you have to laugh as those competitors who took her for granted quickly realize that this small-statured young’un is a real threat. That’s the beauty of precision-rifle competition; skill and accuracy are not the exclusive domain of adults.
Lara Spanic is a 16-year-old Milwaukee high school student who became interested in firearms at the age of 12. Her parents, Ian and Deborah, signed up for a pistol course at The Site Firearms Training Center and Lara joined them in the class. Her passion for precision rifle was ignited at 14 when she competed in her first precision rifle match. Soon after, the Spanic’s asked Jim Kauber, The Site’s director and precision-rifle instructor, if he could be Lara’s professor of precision, and he happily agreed.
I have known Kauber for a few years and he’s extremely busy. For him to agree to be her instructor, Lara must be special. Asked why, he summed up his young protégé as someone who listens to instruction well and has total focus on the mission at hand. Kauber obviously knows talent.
In her first season, Lara competed in 11 matches and finished in the top 20 percent of all amateurs at the GAP Grind precision-rifle competition. After talking with Lara’s parents at The Site, I learned that although this is Lara’s passion, it’s a true family affair. Deborah and Ian are more than chauffeurs and cheerleaders; they play an integral role in all aspects of the sport, including spotting, handling logistics and reloading. I sat down with Lara to get an inside look.
PRS: How did you get interested in the precision rifle?
Lara: We had been coming to The Site for a few years, and Kauber asked if I wanted to shoot a precision rifle. I’d never shot one before, and the farthest I had ever shot was 100 yards. I tried it and really enjoyed it. We came down here a few more times, and Jim said I should start competing. We had no idea that precision rifle was an actual sport, so we looked into it and started competing.
PRS: What did you like about shooting precision rifle?
Lara: It was the most focused I had ever been. My mind is usually going 50 places at once, making connections to everything. But behind the rifle, I am looking through the scope and focusing on that one thing. I never experienced that before, and I thought that was really cool.
PRS: How soon after you started your shooting lessons did you begin competing?
Lara: I began competing within five months of learning how to shoot long range.
This article was originally published in print.
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