SHOOTING / U.S. CHAMPIONSHIPS : Competitor Felled by Heat Exhaustion

A competitor collapsed Wednesday from heat exhaustion as furnace-like temperatures parched the U.S. International Shooting Championships at Chino.

The competitor, Michele Harmon of Eugene, Ore., was treated and released, meet officials said. Harmon collapsed after rifle competition in the prone position. She was wearing a sweat shirt and a 15-pound leather protective gear while competing in an enclosed bunker at the rifle range. She is expected to resume competition today.

More than 650 shooters are competing in 13 Olympic and five non-Olympic events in the 13-day tournament that ends Friday at the Peterson Tiro Range in Prado Regional Park.

Meet officials said temperatures reached 106 degrees on the grounds by mid-afternoon.

The shotgun competitors, who shoot at clay targets on an unprotected field, also were affected by a brush fire in the nearby hills. Winds whipped the fire’s ashes across the range.

“It’s making it hard to breathe,” said Willis Platt, the shotgun match director.

Shooters seeking shelter in an athletes’ clubhouse still endured 80-degree temperatures.

“The air is brownish and orangish . . . it’s really freakish,” said Karen Mutka, a tournament spokesperson.

Brian Travis, a 16-year-old shotgun shooter from Denver, said: “Don’t grab your gun by the barrel, (or) you’ll burn your hand.”

Another teen-age shotgun shooter, Joshua Lakatos of Pasadena, said: “It’s close to unbearable. You soak your towel, your shirt, your shorts and your vests. By the time I get to the seventh station (out of eight), I’m almost dry.”