The Hillsdale College Shotgun Team put up world-class scores on the way to a team clean sweep at both the ACUI/SCTP International National Championship and the ACUI/SCTP Upper Midwest Conference Championships. Held at the Cardinal Center in Marengo, OH, from October 4-8, these events featured a total of 13 teams including University of Kentucky, Virginia Tech, Purdue, and Grace College.
The Chargers began the week with a masterclass in International Skeet. Their world-level score of 363/375 was 88 targets ahead of second place University of the Ozarks and would have placed 5th at the open ISSF World Championships this year. Sophomore Jordan Sapp led the Chargers with a score of 123/125 closely followed by Junior Kyle Fleck with 122/125. Rounding out the squad was sophomore Davis Hay with 118/125. Sapp was awarded the men's individual National Championship with Fleck taking silver and Hay bronze. On the women's side, freshman Madeline Corbin topped the field, breaking 116 targets and winning the women's individual National Championship. Following Corbin was a tie between freshman Ava Downs and senior Ida Brown, both brand new to the sport, who were awarded second and third respectively after a shoot-off.
Next up was International Trap (Bunker), which was unfortunately shortened from 125 to 100 targets per athlete due to a field breakdown. The Chargers again took first place above University of Ozarks, this time by 33 targets. Senior Jackson Sokel and junior Josh Corbin tied for first with 88/100 targets broken and Brown followed closely with 87/100. After a shoot-off, Sokel was awarded Champion and Corbin runner-up. Brown was crowned back-to-back women's individual National Champion with second place honors going to Downs (84/100).
On their performance in the international disciplines, head coach Jordan Hintz said "with our world-class Olympic facilities and accomplished International-style coaches in Dale and Caitlin Royer, we decided to push hard this year for these titles as well as toward the upcoming American-style National Championships. With these scores, there's no doubt we have the greatest squad of collegiate international athletes in the nation."
Directly following the International Nationals was the Upper Midwest Conference Championship, an event consisting of 100 targets each of American Skeet, American Trap, and Sporting Clays plus 50 targets each of Skeet Doubles, Trap Doubles, and Super Sporting.
The Chargers came out of the gate strong in American Skeet posting a near-perfect 497/500. Downs and Corbin both broke perfect 100-straights with Corbin taking women's first place after a shoot-off. Brown's 99 also posted and took the third place women's award. Also hitting 99 targets were Fleck and senior Will Stuart who were awarded second and third place men's awards respectively after yet another shoot-off.
Brown was Hillsdale's top score in Skeet Doubles with 49/50, more targets than any other lady broke in the event. Downs and Corbin tied with 48 targets hit and were given second and third respectively after their second shoot-off of the day. Rounding out the team score were Stuart and junior Gavin Drill, also with 48/50, who were awarded second and third in the men's category and giving the team 241/250 targets total.
Conditions the rest of the weekend worsened, the calm and sun giving way to cold, windy, and cloudy. The Chargers, however, continued to top the podium. Led by freshman Luke Johnson with 49/50 (also taking third after a shoot-off), the team's score of 235/250 in Trap Doubles topped all other schools in attendance. Jackson Sokel, Leif Andersen, Josh Corbin, and Ida Brown were the other athletes posting scores with Brown's 47 earning her the women's gold medal. Senior Jessie Strasser took the bronze.
Faced with an extremely challenging Sporting Clays course, Hillsdale still found success and took home the team gold trophy by 25 targets. Leading the team was junior Jonathan Calabrese and Andersen with scores of 85/100 and 83/100 respectively, earning them the silver and bronze men's awards. Ida Brown took the women's gold with 79/100 and Jessie Strasser won women's silver.
The team broke 220/250 targets in Super Sporting, besting University of Ozarks by 6 targets, the slimmest margin of victory on the week. Josh Corbin and Sapp tied with 45/50, the highest men's score, while Brown's 44 earned her the women's gold. Andersen and Sokel rounded out the team score and there was a three-way tie between Madeline Corbin, Ava Downs, and Jessie Strasser for women's bronze.
The final event for the Chargers was American Trap. With 492/500, they took first place again over University of Ozarks, this time by 7 targets. Johnson, Sapp, and Brown all broke 99/100 with Calabrese (98) and Davis Hay (97) providing the other team scores. Johnson and Sapp earned silver and bronze respectively with Brown taking home yet another first place women's award. Madeline Corbin took women's second and Ava Downs earned women's third.
After taking first in all six events, Hillsdale was awarded the first place High Overall trophy. They broke a total of 2096/2250 targets and were 91 ahead of University of Ozarks in second. Chargers swept the women's podium with an impressive showing from Ida Brown (417/450) putting her only two targets behind the highest male competitor. In second was Ava Downs (394) and third was Madeline Corbin (390). Leif Andersen's fantastic weekend (411/450) put him in second place in the men's High Overall.
"Each one of our athletes have a winning mentality," coach Dale Royer said. "A driving factor in their success is each individual's natural ability. Any one of our athletes can post a team score in any event. The depth of our team is unparalleled. I believe our team has a solid foundation for winning multiple national titles over the next four years."
The Chargers next travel to the World Shooting and Recreation Complex in Sparta, IL to compete in the ACUI/SCTP Fall Central Midwest Conference Championships from October 13-15.
Results: https://app.sssfonline.com/results/team/836
ACUI/SCTP International Nationals:
International Skeet
Team 1st, 363/375 – Jordan Sapp, Kyle Fleck, Davis Hay
Jordan Sapp – Men's 1st, 123/125
Kyle Fleck – Men's 2nd, 122/125
Davis Hay – Men's 3rd, 118/125, Selected to SCTP International Team
Madeline Corbin – Women's 1st, 116/125
Ava Downs – Women's 2nd, 94/125
Ida Brown – Women's 3rd, 94/125
International Trap
Team 1st, 263/300 – Jackson Sokel, Joshua Corbin, Ida Brown
Jackson Sokel – Men's 1st, 88/100
Joshua Corbin – Men's 2nd, 88/100
Ida Brown – Women's 1st, 87/100
Ava Downs – Women's 2nd, 84/100
ACUI/SCTP Upper Midwest Conference Championships:
Team 1st High Overall – 2096/2250
Leif Andersen – 2nd Men's High Overall, 411/450
Ida Brown – 1st Women's High Overall, 417/450
Ava Downs – 2nd Women's High Overall, 394/450
Madeline Corbin – 3rd Women's High Overall, 390/450
Doubles Skeet
Team 1st, 241/250 – Ida Brown, Ava Downs, Madeline Corbin, William Stuart, Gavin Drill
William Stuart – Men's 2nd, 48/50
Gavin Drill – Men's 3rd, 48/50
Ida Brown – Women's 1st, 49/50
Ava Downs – Women's 2nd, 48/50
Madeline Corbin – Women's 3rd, 48/50
American Skeet
Team 1st, 497/500 – Madeline Corbin, Ava Downs, Kyle Fleck, William Stuart, Ida Brown
Kyle Fleck – Men's 1st, 99/100
William Stuart – Men's 2nd, 99/100
Madeline Corbin – Women's 1st, 100/100
Ava Downs – Women's 2nd, 100/100
Ida Brown – Women's 3rd, 99/100
Trap Doubles
Team 1st, 235/250 – Luke Johnson, Jackson Sokel, Ida Brown, Leif Andersen, Joshua Corbin
Luke Johnson – Men's 3rd, 49/50
Ida Brown – Women's 1st, 47/50
Jessica Strasser – Women's 3rd, 42/50
Sporting Clays
Team 1st, 411/500 – Jonathan Calabrese, Leif Andersen, Gavin Drill, Joshua Corbin, Jordan Sapp
Jonathan Calabrese – Men's 2nd, 85/100
Leif Andersen – Men's 3rd, 83/100
Ida Brown – Women's 1st, 79/100
Jessica Strasser – Women's 2nd, 72/100
Super Sporting
Team 1st, 220/250 – Joshua Corbin, Jordan Sapp, Ida Brown, Leif Andersen, Jackson Sokel
Joshua Corbin – Men's t-1st, 45/50
Jordan Sapp – Men's t-1st, 45/50
Ida Brown – Women's 1st, 44/50
Ava Downs – Women's t-3rd, 39/50
Jessica Strasser – Women's t-3rd, 39/50
Madeline Corbin – Women's t-3rd, 39/50
American Trap
Team 1st, 492/500 – Luke Johnson, Jordan Sapp, Ida Brown, Jonathan Calabrese, Davis Hay
Luke Johnson – Men's 2nd, 99/100
Jordan Sapp – Men's 3rd, 99/100
Ida Brown – Women's 1st, 99/100
Madeline Corbin – Women's 2nd, 97/100
Ava Downs – Women's 3rd, 96/100