The Charger shotgun team rallied behind a few strong individual performances on Nov. 9 and swept the team podium at the Michigan College State Shoot hosted by Hillsdale at the John A. Halter Shooting Sports Center.
The top five teams in the state competed in 100 American Trap, 100 American Skeet, and 100 Sporting Clays.
The Charger women led the way as senior Jessica Strasser, freshman Taylor Dale, and freshman Lucci Kern all shot 100-straights. Sophomores Luke Johnson and Alex Hoffman each shot 99/100 for the Charger men. The team scored 498/500, which tied Hillsdale’s all-time best in team American Trap.
In American Skeet the team hit 493/500 clays to take the title. Senior Joshua Corbin led the way with a perfect score. Corbin also placed as the runner-up in sporting clays hitting 97 out of 100 and skeets with another perfect score.
“Overall, I was happy with my performance, but I still have things I want to work on to pick up those last couple targets,” Corbin said.
The competitors battled lighting, but Charger head coach John Hintz said he was impressed by the performance.
“Despite some of the more difficult conditions we’ve shot in this year, the team still came through and shot great numbers,” coach John Hintz said.“I’m especially happy with how we did in sporting clays across the board.”
Junior Jordan Sapp took the sporting clays title after beating Corbin in a shootout. Sophomore Ava Downs took the women’s title in sporting clays with a score of 90 and sophomore Madeline Corbin took second hitting 86 of 100 targets.
Hillsdale took all but one individual event en route to a dominating win in Team High Overall with a score of 1456/1500.
The Chargers are confident as they look to build on such a solid foundation. Junior Leif Anderson said the shoot allowed for a glimpse at what the team may look like in the coming years.
“We had some prospective students come out to shoot with us,” Anderson said. “Overall it was a great shoot.”
Hillsdale Shotgun will be back in action for the Collegiate Clay Target Championships in March.