Shotgun team to compete at ACUI nationals

Home Charger Shotgun Shotgun team to compete at ACUI nationals
Shotgun team to compete at ACUI nationals
Left to Right: Anthony LaMacchia, Thomas Rodgers, and Brandon Korhonen. Austin Gergens | Collegian

The Hillsdale College shotgun team spent spring break preparing for the upcoming ACUI competition next week in San Antonio, Texas. The Chargers have the opportunity to win their sixth consecutive Division III Championship.

Hillsdale hosted the Charger Spring Invitational on March 16, competing against Grace College. Sophomore Barrett Moore shot 193 clays of 200; the highest score overall. Junior Lucas Pieraccini and sophomore Kylar Kuzio tied, trailing Moore’s score by only one clay.  

The previous weekend was a similar experience for the team as they competed at the Lindenwood Invitational in St. Louis, Missouri. After a grueling nine-hour bus ride, the team shot in some of the worst conditions of the season.  

Moore and senior Amanda Klug said they couldn’t decide if it was worse to shoot with lightning delays on Saturday or be buffeted by 30-40 mph winds at night.

“We shot skeet on Saturday in two to six inches of water and we had several 20-minute lighting delays,” freshman Anthony LaMacchia said.

The team visited the Island Lake Shooting Range in Metro Detroit to receive coaching from Pat Lieske. Lieske was a National Sporting Clays Association champion in 2014 and is the father of former shotgun team member Drew Lieske, who graduated from Hillsdale in 2018.

“He’s really good at fine-tuning the little things,” LaMacchia said.