Hillsdale College freshman Jordan Sapp shot 117 out of 125 possible targets and placed sixth at the International Shooting Sport Federation Junior Mens’ Skeet Competition in Osijek, Croatia.

Sapp competed in his third international competition from Sept. 19 to Oct. 12.

“The competition is a world championship of the Olympic discipline,” said head coach of the Hillsdale shotgun team Jordan Hintz.

Caitlin Connor-Royer, assistant coach of the Hillsdale shotgun team and the junior team for USA shooting, coached Sapp during the eight days he competed.

“We left the U.S., had an off-day for jet lag, and then the next day was a range day, without practice,” Royer said. “The third day was official training, and then we went into four days of competition.”

The first of these days consisted of qualification for the finals, and was followed by three days of finals.

“There was an individual event, a mixed team, and a three man team event, which each had a final,” Royer said.

The competition lasted from 8:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. on qualifying days, and until 6:00 p.m. during finals competitions.

In preparation for the event, Sapp shot more than three days a week. He was also able to draw on his previous experiences from competing internationally.

“I competed in a World Cup in Germany this year, and I competed in a world championship in Peru last year,” Sapp said.

Sapp has also competed at the national level.

“I like meeting a whole bunch of people, and I get to try new foods overseas,” Sapp said. “In the U.S., it’s less stressful because you know everyone that you’re with and you all speak the same language.”

Shooters are sometimes squadded internationally in groups of five or six.

“It’s hard because people don’t really know what you’re saying,” Sapp said.

In the competition, Sapp competed against Krzysztof Antoni Buniowski of Poland, Arytom Sedelnikov of Kazakhstan, and Martin Vcelicka of the Czech Republic in the second ranking match. His squad included shooters from China, Georgia, India, and Italy.

“You compete not just against your squad, but against everyone else in the competition as well,” Sapp said. “Competition makes shooting a shotgun more interesting,”

Sapp placed first for the team competition. He shot with the other two Americans in the junior mens’ competition, Aidin Burns and Benjamin Keller.
“We’re all friends,” Sapp said. “We went to Germany together.”

Sapp was the only Hillsdale student to compete across all events, including trap and skeet.

“He shot very well in qualifications and the finals,” Royer said. “He got gold in the team event, and it was a great match.”

Sapp plans to enter qualification matches again in February 2023.