Four members of the shotgun team secured their places on Team USA following a selection match in Palm Beach, Florida, from Jan. 22 through Feb. 2.

Junior Jordan Sapp and sophomore Ava Downs made the open USA Shooting National Team, and junior Davis Hay and freshman Taylor Dale made the Junior National Team. They will compete abroad in International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup matches during the next few months.

“Just being able to share that moment with my teammates, my coach, and both my parents who came down for this match, was probably the best part,” Downs said. “My dad had to leave early. So, because my dad got me into shooting, my favorite part was when I got to call him and tell him that I made it. That was a really special moment for him and I.” 

Competitors looking to make Team USA shot 500 total targets split between two separate matches, according to skeet shooter Sapp. The top six scorers from each category made the team.

“I have been shooting shotguns since I was 8 years old. I used to go out with my dad and uncle almost every weekend,” Downs said. “When I was 16, I signed up to go to a camp to learn how to shoot international bunker trap, which is what I do now, and I fell in love with it there. I’ve been competing in USA shooting ever since. When I was 18, I made my very first junior team, and I made the Junior World Championship team to go to South Korea.”

Dale said she never would have joined the Hillsdale shotgun team if she hadn’t watched her sisters succeed in the sport when she was young. She now hopes to compete in the 2028 Summer Olympics. 

“My two older sisters shot in college, and my older sister went on to shoot on the Army team,” Dale said. “Seeing them being so successful in it and following their dreams, I was like, ‘Hey, maybe this is also an opportunity for me.’ So throughout high school, I was always working toward trying to get a scholarship or trying to go somewhere so I could continue my shooting career and improve enough to hopefully make it to the Olympics.”

Earning a spot on Team USA allows the shooters to compete around the world in countries such as Argentina and Peru, according to Sapp.

“All the ranges look completely different,” Sapp said. “A huge thing is just getting accustomed to the food and the way people live out there. It was the first time I ever left the country and it was an eye opening experience.”

Sapp said the competition was tough but he knew he had it in him to shoot a top score.

“I expected to go out there and do it,” Sapp said. “It was cool though because to be up there with the older guys, and the guys in the Army, whose whole job is just to make that team and make the Olympics, was pretty cool.”

Similarly, Downs said she had worked hard to get where she was and felt ready to take her spot on the team.

“It was kind of surreal because I went into the last day knowing that if I wanted a spot on the open team I was really going to have to just shoot very well my last day, and I couldn’t leave anything on the table,” Downs said. “So then I shot, and I shot the best I ever have on a day of a match ever, on day three, which was our last day, and that solidified my spot.”