Hannah Burnett started shooting guns when she was a little girl and found she was outshooting the older kids.

When Burnett came to WKU, she enrolled in the marksmanship class which fulfills a one-hour physical education credit at the university.

After taking the class, Burnett became an assistant for the class this semester.

“It’s something I’m good at,” she said.

The Paducah sophomore’s shooting resumé includes USA Competitive Shooting Circuit, the Junior Olympics and the Dixie Double, an international shooting competition. She has won several state titles in the rifle and pistol.

“I’m a beast,” Burnett said.

Rineyville sophomore Craig Meers is also an assistant in the class. He started working with the class after taking it last fall. Although Meers has been working with the class and has a passion for teaching, he admits that Burnett shoots more than he does.

“She’s new, but she has more experience than me,” he said.”She’s making me look bad.”

The two of them work with Coach Joe Tinsley to help keep the class running smoothly. Meers recalled that when he took the class, if a gun needed fixing, class stopped.

Now, Tinsley can call on Meers or Burnett to take care of it while he continues teaching.

Burnett has been involved in teaching correct shooting skills since she was in the 4H program. She said having the peer-to-peer teaching is important and different coming from someone your own age.

“In a class setting, you will not learn anything (about marksmanship), so it’s easier to work one on one to tell each person what they do wrong,” Burnett said.

Currently Burnett is injured and isn’t able to shoot competitively, something that she has done since she was 10 years old. But she is able to take comfort in the one on one work that she is able to do with the students in the class now.

“Hannah is very competitive,” Meers said.

Meers is able to direct the class as a whole and set up the second group while Tinsley is going over sheets of the hits from group one. Meanwhile, Burnett works with a student one-on-one to help with everything from holding the gun to hitting the target.

“I couldn’t make it without them,” said Tinsley, a Bowling Green native. “They take up a lot of slack.”

Both Burnett and Meers said they are helping because they enjoy it.

The two assistants said there is competition between them, often when going head-to-head to shoot.

Meers is better at the rifle and Burnett is better at pistol.

But Burnett is what Meers called “rusty gold,” because she just needs to get the rust off since she hasn’t shot the gun in years.