The Hillsdale College Shotgun team finished strong at their final tournament of the fall season this weekend.
The team finished second place overall, achieved first place for Division-II sporting clays and wobble trap, and second place for the 5-stand, and third for skeet shooting at the Scholastic Clay Target Program “Spooktacular” Collegiate Regional Championship hosted in Sparta, Illinois.
Sophomore Casey Inks received first place for individual ladies trap shooting, and junior Anna Pfaff received second place for individual ladies 5-stand shooting.
The team traveled together on college buses for almost eight hours to achieve their second place overall accolade despite the windy and cold weather conditions.
“Growth for the team has been good this year, and they will be a top contender at the National Championship next March,” head coach Bartley Spieth said.
The team added three new members this year: freshman Drew Lieske, an All-American sporting clays shooter; sophomore Clayton Moniot, member of the Junior Olympic Development Team for USA Shooting; and sophomore Emanuel Boyer, an All-American trap shooter.
“Adding new team members to such a small team is always a challenge, but it was a very smooth adjustment this year,” Pfaff said. “While we are shooting individual scores, we help coach and encourage each other at practice and at competitions, so the dynamic is actually very important.”
Though this tournament marked the end of the season for the team, Moniot, senior Joe Kain, and junior Jordan Hintz will be competing Nov. 6-15 for international skeet and bunker trap in the USA Shooting Fall Selection Match in Tillar, Arkansas.
The rest of the team is preparing for the ACUI Collegiate Clay Target Championship in the spring in San Antonio, Texas.
“Overall this year, we’ve seen a lot of tough targets at competitions, so while scores aren’t as high as they have been in the past, our team has done a great job of adapting to situations and pulling through despite tougher conditions,” Pfaff said. “This should pay off when we get to nationals in San Antonio this spring where the weather is usually a lot nicer for better target presentations.”
The team will continue with a reduced practice schedule at Hillsdale’s newly renovated Halter Shooting Sports Center to prepare for the spring tournaments.
