Jordan Sapp poses with gun and medals
Courtesy | Jordan Sapp
When Jordan Sapp started shooting at 10 years old, he was so small that his coaches would hold up the other end of the rifle to help him aim.
After starting with an air rifle and a .22 long rifle, he then moved to archery and trap shooting. Now, after competing as one of Hillsdale’s top shotgun competitors, Sapp has left the college to join the prestigious U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit with hopes of competing in the 2028 Olympic Games.
According to Sapp, his grandfather, a notable trap shooter, was a primary influence on him. But what made him really fall in love with the sport was a shotgun competition when he was 17 years old.
“It was one competition in Kerrville, Texas, that I shot, made my first final, and fell in love with it at that point,” Sapp said. “And it was there when it really hit me that I just hated not being first.”
That same year, Sapp then traveled to Lima, Peru, where he got second place in his first overseas match and world championship at the 2021 International Shooting Sports Federation Junior World Championship.
While at Hillsdale, Sapp competed both domestically and internationally, including recently helping the Chargers win the 2024 Association of College Unions International and Scholastic Clay Target Program Team National title and garnering two All-American honors in the process.
Sapp also set a world record in Italy at the 2024 ISSF Junior World Cup by shooting a perfect 125 out of 125 as a rising junior. This was the first time the record had been achieved in the junior division and tied with the open world record.
But after he was offered a spot on the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit this summer, Sapp decided to forego his senior year at Hillsdale to join the unit.
“When I got the call offering me a spot on the team, I was super excited because that’s something that I’ve wanted for the past five or six years,” Sapp said. “So I took that up just immediately. I knew that there was no other question about it, and I had to leave the college because of it.”
The Army Marksmanship Unit was founded in 1956 to promote the U.S. Army’s shooters in competitions worldwide, producing 20 Olympic medal winners to date. According to Sapp, the unit recruits new members to replace those who are leaving and mostly asks for four- to five-year commitments. During this time, members are enlisted soldiers in the U.S. Army and undergo the army’s basic training requirements.
Shotgun head coach Jordan Hintz said while Sapp’s acceptance to the unit was a first for a Hillsdale shooter, it didn’t surprise him that it was Sapp.
“We’ve never had a Hillsdale student on the Army Marksmanship Unit,” Hintz said. “It’s something that pretty much most of the serious Olympic-style competitors are always aiming for. So I’m not really surprised, given Jordan’s background, the success that he’s had, and just how skilled he is in Olympic skeet, that he was offered it.”
While Sapp is moving onto the unit, he said he will miss the shooting team he’s leaving behind in Hillsdale.
“I will miss them a lot because I’ve grown pretty close to them and I think they’ve grown pretty close to me as well,” Sapp said. “I don’t want to leave them, but I have to, and they understand that. I wish I were able to shoot another nationals with them and hopefully win.”
Junior Luke Johnson, who competes on the shooting team, said that while he’ll miss having Sapp on the team, he hopes to see him in the 2028 Olympic Games.
“Everyone reaches a time when they have to move on, and it has come for Jordan,” Johnson said. “I’m proud of the shooter he is and excited to see how he takes advantage of this opportunity.”
