Nicole Heitmeyer

– James Madison, (Annals of Congress 434, June 8, 1789)

King George’s best known birth citizen would have loved to have known King George High School’s best known markswoman of 2008. Nicole Heitmeyer is not only ‘‘trained to arms” she can hit what she’s aiming at; so much so, that her shooting ability has gained her a spot at Morehead State University.

There, the 5-foot-8 statuesque blonde with the Annie Oakley talent will join KGHS best known Foxes’ markswoman of 2007 and shooting buddy, Elizabeth Lyon, on the Kentucky college rifle team.

Heitmeyer says she began shooting ‘‘about age six” when her dad, retired Navy Chief Petty Officer Steve, brought home an air gun one day to begin plinking with; and, from then on, she was hooked.

‘‘I just loved shooting it,” she said. ‘‘I especially loved shooting at ears of corn and hearing the kernels explode when they were hit.”

Heitmeyer soon graduated to small-bore rifle shooting and became a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association. When she entered high school, she naturally gravitated toward the Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) and its rifle team, coached by Jim Morgan—who is well-known in King George shooting circles as a no-nonsense trainer of students yearning to become sharpshooters.

Morgan teaches the Army ‘‘BRASS” method: Breathe, Relax, Align, Sight, and Squeeze the trigger and applies liberal amounts of range discipline with his methods. It is something that Heitmeyer compared to ‘‘tough love” but cheerfully credited her coach with her development. The KGHS Foxes rifle team is also the 2007 high school national champion and came within a hair’s breath of repeating this year under Morgan’s tutelage.

Heitmeyer, who has been challenged with an arthritic hip since infancy, also found shooting to be a valuable athletic outlet as other high school sports would be too taxing on the body’s main flexor joint.

‘‘I do try to swim and bike ride to build up stamina and strength,” she explained. ‘‘But not competitively. Shooting takes a lot of muscle control so you need strength...I like the other sports but just can’t run or jump with arthritis. Besides, there’s a lot to like about shooting because rifle is a year-round sport that you can do every day.”

The arthritic condition though has helped fuel her drive toward the dream of becoming a medical doctor and pursue orthopedic surgery.

An honor graduate from the 2008 class, Heitmeyer will enter college on an Army ROTC scholarship.

‘‘I have a passion toward the sciences and blood doesn’t scare me,” she said. ‘‘I expect to have to do a lot of the ROTC PT (physical testing) but will likely have a waver on some things like running (she plans to swim) because of my condition.”

She also plans to do a lot toward her personal goals when she matriculates to Morehead State this Aug. 9 for ROTC orientation.

‘‘My goal is to always improve. NROTC (where she was the high school company commander) has given me a lot in self-leadership skills and has taught me a lot about discipline and self-reliance,” Heitmeyer pointed out.

Heitmeyer is the American Legion School Award winner for 2008. As well she was recognized this year as the NCAA Division I Woman’s Shooting scholarship winner along with her Army ROTC scholarship at the KGHS graduation ceremony.