When Georgia Army National Guard Spc. David Ubriaco looks downrange through the sights of an AR-15 rifle this month he’ll be targeting for his first win at the National Rifle Association’s Service Rifle Championship.

The match is held annually at Camp Perry, and some of the best Army and Marine Corps marksman will be competing against each other for first-place and the notoriety of being the top rifleman in the country.

Ubriaco, a dismounted infantryman with Winder’s Company A, 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, is one of three freshmen from North Georgia State College and University in Dahlonega who will be attending the match. The 19-year-old full-time math and Spanish student is also a member of North Georgia’s Army ROTC program, which sponsors the school’s rifle team.

There’s much riding on his and the team’s performance, but the stress is something everyone has decided will not interfere with their shooting.

"I and my teammates have trained continuously over the past year for Camp Perry," Ubriaco said. "We all hope to be named the best, but the goal is to give a good representation of our school, the ROTC program and, in my case, the Georgia Army National Guard and my unit.

One way the young infantryman has kept up his range time has been by participating in other shooting matches. Ubriaco, for example, competed July 19 against an estimated 49 shooters from Georgia and across the nation at Fort Benning. The post’s rifle and pistol club sponsored the match.

Scoring 710 out of 800 points on targets set from 200 yards to 600 yards in the standing, sitting and prone positions, put him high in the standings, he said. Information taken from the rifle and pistol club’s Web site shows Ubricao came in 13th in the master’s class. James Youman, club treasurer and match director for the July 19 competition, said Ubriaco was one of the best among the first time shooters in that class.