She's almost always right on target

Jonell Sawyer no longer holds the national record. She's not even the top gun in her own home. But the 5-foot-tall Sawyer is, indeed, very much a big shot.

Sawyer, 52, Anoka County's director of property assessment and taxation, is also the county's Annie Oakley.

Until June, she held the national record for senior women for air rifle marksmanship. At this year's national championship in Georgia, Sawyer finished second in the competition involving .22-caliber rifles fired at 50 meters. Maj. Rhonda Bright, an international pistol shooter with the Army Reserve and member of the National Rifle Team, is the new record-holder.

"She was really looking forward to going back to the nationals and a chance to break her record," said Larry Sawyer, Jonell's husband. "But Rhonda Bright is a West Point All-American. She just turned 45 and was eligible to compete with senior women.

"She absolutely trounced Jonell's record, which was a little bit of a letdown. But along the way, Jonell's had some scores that were just world class."

As a five-time senior national champion himself, Larry Sawyer knows all about world class. And, yes, Jonell has beaten him in air-gun competition.

"I was rusty," he said.

"No, he's better than me," she said.

Larry Sawyer began shooting as a youngster growing up in Arden Hills. He and Jonell were both members of the University of Minnesota team, but took very different routes getting there.

Jonell, who was told she was named after a French saint, grew up in a Twin Cities family that "has no history of shooting," she said. She went to the College of St. Benedict and took a marksmanship course offered through ROTC at St. John's University -- even though she was not a member of ROTC. She transferred to the University of Minnesota, where she met Larry.

"I advanced pretty quickly against the competitors shooting at St. John's, but I wasn't world-class," she recalled. "My husband is a competitive shooter. He dragged me along.

"He takes it seriously. I'm more casual."

Larry, a professional photographer, is so serious about his sport that he is now president of a rifle-gear business, called 10.9, which takes its name from a perfect shooting score in international competition. (Go to www.10pt9.com.)

Shooting also has been a family affair for the Sawyers. Two of their children went to college on shooting scholarships.

But Jonell, for all her shooting skills, sounds even more casual about the sport than her husband depicts her. She says she hasn't thought much about shooting since the nationals in June. She's never even hunted with a rifle.

"During a match, you'll have periods of brilliance," she said, "...and it kind of fades away."

Paul Levy • 612-673-4419