Another year, and the Day of the Cowboy might need to be renamed the Day of the Kirkhams.
Sedona Red Rock High School freshman Cody Kirkham will be featured in the Uptown celebration Friday and Saturday, July 22 and 23, after winning the Top 16 Shoot-off and finishing sixth overall in the Single Action Shooting Society world championships June 26.
“Second through seventh place were less than two seconds apart,” said father Greg Kirkham, who himself finished 56th out of more than 640 shooters at the 10-day End of Trail championships in Edgewood, N.M. “It took 193.19 [seconds] to win it.”
But while “Cody James,” as he is known in the SASS circuit, shot his 12 events just eight-and-a-half seconds slower, it was older sister Jessica — competing under the handle SASS Kicker — who brought home the End of Trail women’s title.
“He’s become such a focused and talented shooter,” said Kirkham, who also was the fastest double shotgun, pistol and rifle shooter in three side matches. “He’s always had the skill — he’s very fast — but you have to be very focused in shooting all the time, and he was able to hone his focus in.
“I was so proud of him and very impressed with his performance.”
Shooting faster than any other female competitor, Kirkham became the sixth cowboy action shooter to win the women’s world title three consecutive years.
“I did not know that,” she said. “That’s really exciting and something I’ve been working hard towards. It’s an honor.”
Kirkham also won three side matches at the Edgewood, N.M., competition: She hit four targets in less than three seconds with 10 shots out of a lever-action rifle, shot the same number of shots just over a half-second slower out of two holstered pistols and was also the fastest draw on the double shotgun.
If Kirkham wins her fourth straight at End of Trail next year, she would become just the second shooter in the event’s 35-year history to win four or more world championships.
Kirkham plans to attend the second day of the Uptown celebration with her brother before heading to the University of Arizona next month, where she will be a pre-medical physiology major on three scholarships worth $14,500.
“It’s going to be hard to train in college,” said Kirkham, who must live without her 12-gauge shotgun, Ruger, .357 pistol and the rest of her guns she competes with as she moves to the honors dormitory. “I’m going to be studying a lot. I knew, no matter what, I was going to be on campus my first year.”
Kirkham, who dreams of becoming a graduate student at Johns Hopkins Medical School, applied for nearly 30 scholarships before graduating with a 4.33 grade-point average.
For more photos and the Kirkhams’ full results from the End of Trail world cowboy action shooting championships, please see the Friday, July 8, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.
