Ida Brown practices at Hillsdale shooting center. Courtesy | Matt Muller
The Hillsdale College shotgun team earned multiple medals at home and abroad this summer, with the competition already in full swing before classes begin.
Many of the athletes have had the opportunity to compete both at a collegiate and international level. The Scholastic Clay Target Program hosts competitions for students across the country, while USA Shooting in partnership with the International Shooting Sports Federation prepare athletes for the Olympic level.
The team entered its first summer tournament shortly after classes ended May 14 at the USA Shooting National Championships. The competition, hosted at Hillsdale’s John Anthony Halter Shooting Sports Center, serves as the first of two Olympic trials for Paris 2024.
Senior Ida Brown shot the highest score of any Hillsdale athlete, 211/250, breaking enough targets to secure second place in the collegiate women’s category.
“I feel like I’m in a decent position to qualify for the Olympics,” Brown said. “It’s still very doable if I shoot the way I know I can. My goal is to shoot a few bunker matches throughout the year at some of the closer ranges. What has worked out really well for me so far is practicing outside of the team, getting a few extra four or five rounds per week on my own.”
In addition to Brown, junior Josh Corbin shot 235/250 targets, earning collegiate men’s gold. Sophomore Jordan Sapp followed with a junior men’s silver medal for breaking 240/250 clays. Junior Sophia Bultema broke 175 targets, finishing second in paratrap.
Four Hillsdale students were selected to attend the ISSF Junior World Cup, bringing them abroad to Suhl, Germany, June 1-9. Corbin and Sapp contributed toward USA Shooting’s gold medal in squad men’s skeet.
“I would say throughout the world they’re starting to really give more opportunities to juniors,” assistant coach Caitlin Connor-Royer said. “There’s at least one ISSF Junior World Cup per year, and I think they’re trying to get it up to two. Then the World Championships is like the final showdown for all the juniors of the year. Historically, there’s more competitors at the World Championships because it’s just more of a prestigious award.”
Hillsdale’s shotgun team selected its Junior World Cup and Championships teams based upon a combination of scores from USA Shooting Nationals and a junior selection event in Kerrville, Texas. Any successful student athlete can be a part of the team, so long as they are under the age of 21 before the start of the season.
Nearly one month after leaving campus, the shotgun team returned to Hillsdale the week of June 9 for the USA Shooting Junior Olympics National Championships. Sapp won gold in men’s skeet, while Bultema also earned gold in collegiate women’s trap. Corbin became the only current cross-discipline athlete to be selected for two different USA Shooting teams after winning men’s trap junior olympic champion.
The Chargers flew home for the SCTP National Championships the week of July 12th at the Cardinal Center in Marengo, Ohio. The trap doubles team earned gold in the collegiate category. Senior Jessica Strasser won first in collegiate women’s trap doubles, with Brown following in second place. Junior Leif Andersen earned second in collegiate men’s trap doubles.
Five Hillsdale Chargers, including incoming freshmen Madeline Corbin and Ava Downs flew to Changwon, South Korea, to represent Team USA in the ISSF Junior World Championships from July 14-25. Madeline earned bronze in women’s skeet, while her brother Josh Corbin and Sapp contributed to a silver medal in men’s skeet.
“I think that the summer went really well for the team,” Connor-Royer said. “We have a very dominant Hillsdale College International Team, for sure. Just as a whole, the USA shooting junior team is by far the best in the world.”
With only a month’s rest, the Chargers began a new season Aug. 20 at the Guerini Grand Prix in Brighton, Michigan.
“I don’t think any of our athletes competing at that level weren’t in high school doing the same thing already,” head coach Jordan Hintz said. “For the most part, they’re pretty well attuned to the fast pace already.”
Corbin won third place in international sporting clays, as well as highest overall score in the super sporting clays competition. Brown followed with first place in the A- division of super sporting clays. Overall, the Hillsdale shotgun team earned 20 different awards.
This weekend, the team will compete at home at the Halter Center. The college is hosting the annual Chargers Classic, sponsored by the National Sporting Clays Association. The competition serves as a fundraiser for the team, with categories for sporting clays, five stand and super sporting. The event is open to the public with prizes available.
“Nothing for the fall makes me too nervous,” Brown said. “I don’t get nervous, unless it’s qualifying.”
With the second half of the Paris 2024 Olympic trials hosted next March, the Chargers have lots of tournaments ahead. This season’s team will be the largest in the college’s history, with 16 students, a record five of them being women.
