The Hillsdale College Shotgun Team traveled to Marengo, Ohio from October 5-9 to compete in the ACUI/SCTP Upper Midwest Conference Championship and International National Championship. More than 110 athletes competed in the event from 8 schools: Hillsdale, University of the Ozarks (AR), Bethel University (TN), Clemson University (SC), Grace College (IN), University of Kentucky, Purdue University (IN), and Lake Superior State University (MI).
The shoot began with International Skeet. Even missing one of their top athletes, freshman Jordan Sapp, the Chargers dominated the field breaking 309/375 and besting second place Ozarks by 68 targets. Leading the team was sophomore Kyle Fleck with 112/125 targets followed by sophomore Josh Corbin (107) and freshman Davis Hay (90). Fleck and Corbin earned first and second place individual respectively.
The final event of the International Championship was International Trap. The 6 competing Chargers came up just short of the title, shooting 303/375 just two targets behind University of the Ozark's 15 athletes. Senior Ida Brown's score of 107 was the team's highest and enough for top women's bunker score. Following Brown was Corbin with 104 and freshman Sophia Bultema with 92. Corbin and Bultema's performances earned them each a spot on the SCTP International Team.
American Skeet and Skeet Doubles kicked off the Upper Midwest Conference Championship. The Chargers had strong showings and took home the top team award in both events. The American Skeet Team of Corbin (100/100), freshman Davis Hay (99), Brown (98), Fleck (98), and senior Woody Glazer (97) totaled 492/500 targets and topped second place Bethel by 5. Corbin earned the men's silver medal while Brown won the women's gold. The team was led in Skeet Doubles by Corbin with 49/50, the highest men's score of the competition. Four Chargers tied after breaking 48 targets with Fleck and Hay taking home the second and third place men's awards respectively and junior Will Stuart and sophomore Gavin Drill just missing out on medals. Ida Brown also earned gold in the women's category.
Saturday was Sporting Clays and Super Sporting. Hillsdale's score of 439/500 beat out Clemson's 434 for gold. The top 5 scorers were Corbin (92), Glazer (89), junior Jessie Strasser (88), Brown (86), and Fleck (84). Corbin took home second place individually while Strasser and Brown finished second and third in women's sporting clays respectively. The Chargers were also the highest scoring school in Super Sporting (210) with Ozarks in second (200). Corbin shot the top score (46/50) and earned the high men's award. Fleck and junior Jackson Sokel tied with 42, earning him third place overall, followed by Brown (41) and Drill (39). Brown won the silver medal in the women's category with Strasser finishing in third.
The Chargers tied for first place team with University of the Ozarks in both American Trap and Trap Doubles on the final day of competition. Glazer (100), Corbin (99), Stuart (98), and a three-way tie from Fleck, sophomore Jonathan Calabrese, and freshman Leif Andersen (97) put together a total score of 491/500. Glazer earned the top prize individually. Fighting the wind in Trap Doubles, Hillsdale broke 226 of 250 targets. The team score consisted of 47/50 from Sokel, 46 from Andersen, 45 from Glazer, and 44 from both Corbin and Brown. Sokel and Brown were awarded the individual silver medal in the men's and women's categories respectively.
With a total team score of 2099/2250, Hillsdale was awarded the most prestigious prize of the event: Team High Overall. Following the Chargers was Ozarks (2044) and Bethel (2025). Individually, Josh Corbin dominated the field. Breaking 430/450 targets, Corbin was 15 targets ahead of the second-place finisher, another Hillsdale athlete, Woody Glazer. Ida Brown's total score of 409 put her in a shoot-off for women's HOA, but she was victorious and earned Hillsdale yet another high individual accolade.
"This was our first major shoot of the year and we performed quite well," said head coach Jordan Hintz. "The event was a marathon and every single member of the team put up a score in at least one discipline."
The next stop for the Chargers is the ACUI/SCTP Central Midwest Conference Championship in Sparta, IL. The team will compete again in Trap, Trap Doubles, Skeet, Skeet Doubles, Sporting Clays, and Super Sporting at the World Shooting and Recreation Complex from October 14-16.
Scores found here: https://app.sssfonline.com/results/team/836
Written by Jordan Hintz
Photo by Jordan Hintz