The Hillsdale shotgun team took first on home turf during the Michigan College Clay Target State Shoot Nov. 4 for its last tournament until February.
Each team competed in squads of four, with every athlete shooting 100 clays each for American trap, American skeet, and sporting clays. Hillsdale hosted five separate universities at the John Anthony Halter Shooting Sports Center: Ferris State University, Michigan State University, Mid-Michigan College, Montcalm Community College, and Olivet University.
“I’m really proud about how this semester went and how everybody has been shooting,” head coach Jordan Hintz said. “I think this is very possibly the strongest team that we’ve ever had. I’m really, really proud of how they’ve been shooting. The scores that we’ve been putting up are just crazy, especially consistently for a team of our size.”
The Hillsdale squad hit 399/400 clays in both American trap and skeet.. Fifth-year senior Ida Brown and senior Jessica Strasser, followed by junior Josh Corbin, all scored perfect 100s in American trap.
“It’s always about trying to improve the fundamentals,” Hintz said. “Overall improvement shows up in the aggregate.”
In American skeet, seniors Jackson Sokel and William Stuart, alongside sophomore Leif Andersen, earned perfect scores.
“My favorite moment of the season would have to be shooting a perfect score in skeet,” Andersen said. “This is the first time I have ever done this, and my family was here to watch, which was really nice.”
In sporting clays, Hillsdale also earned first, with a squad score of 384/400. Corbin (98/100), Andersen (98), Brown (96), and Stuart (92) composed the total score.
With a total of 1,182/1,200 broken targets, Hillsdale took highest overall, finishing ahead of Olivet,who placed second, and Michigan State in third. Corbin, with a score of 297/300, took highest overall shooter. Andersen earned silver with a 295/300, and Stuart took bronze with 291/300. Brown won women’s highest overall with a 295/300, with Strasser in second and freshman Madeline Corbin in third.
“I chose Hillsdale for the academics and for the shooting program,” freshman Ava Downs said. “It’s so fulfilling because you put in so much work to get something out of it versus just skating by.”
Multiple team members mentioned how close the team has been, particularly this semester.
“The team is united because of all of the extracurricular things we do together,” Andersen said. “It seems like there is always an event someone on the team is hosting or even just studying together.”
While the Chargers are done competing for the fall semester, the team said it feels prepared to take on the challenges of the spring season. The main tournament to look forward to will be the Association of College Unions International/Scholastic Clay Target Program National Championships in March.
“We’ll be winding down practices starting pretty soon here so that everybody has lots of time to work on their schoolwork and also avoid some of the bad weather,” Hintz said. “Ultimately, they’re all here for their education, so that’s the most important thing.”
The Chargers will compete next at the Hillsdale Invitational Feb. 24.