By Malcolm Butler
For years, Paisley Mounts and Sydney Hearne have practiced side by side as members of the Lincoln Sharpshooters, honing their skills on the range as teammates and friends.
This summer, that dedication helped Team Louisiana Rifle Team finish as the national runner-up at the 2026 4-H Shooting Sports National Championships while Paisley earned an individual third-place finish in the nation.
Paisley, a Cedar Creek School sophomore, and Sydney, a Ruston High School sophomore, represented Team Louisiana at the championships at Heartland Public Shooting Park in Grand Island, Nebraska.
The two Lincoln Parish shooters made up half of Louisiana’s four-member smallbore rifle team, joining Megan Wallace of Bossier Parish and Logan Benoit of Ascension Parish to help Louisiana finish second overall in the nation.
“It’s nice to have a teammate that you already know before you go to nationals,” Sydney said. “You know who you’re practicing with, you know what to expect, and she’s just a really good teammate.”
Paisley agreed that sharing the experience with a longtime teammate made the trip even more memorable.
“It was pretty amazing knowing that she was going to be on a team with me because it’d be like old times, just us two on a team,” Paisley said.
The national championships, held June 22-26, brought together the top 4-H shooters from across the country to compete in nine disciplines. Smallbore rifle competitors use .22-caliber rifles and compete in three events — NRA Three-Position, Silhouette and the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) course — with combined scores determining the overall standings.
For Paisley, shooting has become much more than competition.
“I love doing it because I love the people there, and shooting just makes me feel at home,” Paisley said. “It just makes me feel very calm, and it’s just something I love doing.”
Qualifying for Team Louisiana required months of competition. Shooters first advanced through regional competition before earning spots in the Louisiana 4-H State Championship. From there, the state’s top four shooters earned the opportunity to represent Louisiana at nationals.
Paisley and Sydney proved themselves among the state’s best throughout that journey.
At the Northern Regional Championships, Paisley captured the NRA Three-Position title while Sydney posted top-three finishes in all three disciplines, placing second in both Silhouette and CMP and third in NRA Three-Position.
The duo continued their success at the Louisiana State Championships. Paisley again won the NRA Three-Position competition while finishing second overall individually, and Sydney placed third overall after recording top-five finishes in each discipline.
On the national stage, Team Louisiana delivered one of the state’s strongest performances, finishing second overall in the nation.
Paisley placed third overall individually while finishing third in NRA Three-Position, 13th in Silhouette and 14th in CMP. Sydney also turned in an impressive performance in her first national championship, placing third nationally in Silhouette, sixth in CMP and 17th overall.
“I have had the privilege of coaching these two young ladies since they were each 9 years old,” Lincoln Parish Sharpshooters coach Bobby Mounts said. “I knew back then they both had natural ability, and if they worked hard, they could each make it to nationals.
“They have spent countless hours on the range training together and pushing each other to be their best. I’ve enjoyed watching them improve over the years. I was overjoyed to see them both medal individually and as part of Team Louisiana at nationals. Having the opportunity to coach Team Louisiana at nationals with these two girls on the team was very special.”
For Paisley, the trip to Nebraska was her second consecutive appearance at the national championships after competing in air rifle a year ago.
“Last year I was very nervous, but this year I wasn’t very nervous at all,” Paisley said. “I was just glad to be there, and I was glad to be there with a teammate of mine that I’ve known for a very long time.”
Sydney admitted competing on the national stage brought a different level of intensity.
“It’s just a little bit more pressure because it’s a new environment that you’re not used to,” Sydney said. “You have to learn from your time there.”
Having an experienced teammate helped ease those nerves. Before the competition began, Paisley offered Sydney one simple piece of advice.
“She said, ‘Just don’t go out there being nervous, because that’s not going to help,'” Sydney said.
Both shooters began competing at age 9 as members of the Lincoln Sharpshooters and have spent years developing their skills together.
For Paisley and Sydney, the trip to Nebraska represented the culmination of years of dedication alongside one another as teammates with the Lincoln Sharpshooters. Together, they helped Team Louisiana finish first overall in the nation while demonstrating that two young shooters from Lincoln Parish could compete with the best 4-H marksmen in the country.
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