John Beecher at USPSA match during 2024-25 season
Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department
The Hillsdale College action shooting team opened its 2025 season at home with three podium finishes Sept. 6.
The team competed in a United States Practical Shooting Association match at the Ailes Action Shooting Range in the limited and limited optics categories.
“Overall, I was proud of how the team did, especially our new members,” junior and team captain John Beecher said.
The Hillsdale team split into the limited and limited optics categories, based on the features of their guns, and had athletes in the top five places of both categories.
Beecher won third in the limited optics category. Seniors Joseph Grohs and Jonah Kirstein came in right behind him in fourth and fifth, respectively.
According to Beecher, the team was encouraged by these results but saw room to improve.
“I think we all felt like we left something out there,” Beecher said. “But there was a lot to be positive about.”
Juniors Kayla Mullin and Jianna Coppola took first and second in the limited category for both men and women, nearly sweeping the podium for the Chargers.
“I’m really happy with how I performed in this match,” Coppola said. “I felt that I got into a good rhythm early on and executed each stage according to my stage plan despite having setbacks right before I shot on two of the stages.”
According to Coppola, the match showcased the team’s adaptability and preparedness.
“This was our first match and some of the stages in the match included elements that we hadn’t seen in a while,” Coppola said. “For example, one of the stages required us to shoot over 25 yards at smaller targets. This is no easy task for those of us who were shooting iron sites in the limited division.”
According to Kirstein, action shooting, which involves squads of athletes shooting targets of various sizes and distances in several stages as quickly and as accurately as possible, is an intensely mental sport.
“We really emphasize confidence and mental fortitude, because it’s a mental sport,” Kirstein said. “You’re out there for six to 10 hours, and your mind is just running the entire time. You have to be on it the entire time.”
According to Kirstein, the match allowed the team to demonstrate this mental resilience.
“Every match has its highs and lows,” Kirstein said. “But we’ve trained enough mental discipline so that if we make a mistake or have a bad stage, we can have our best stage after that.”
According to Beecher, the team is building up for the collegiate match that will be hosted at the Ailes Action Shooting Range in Hillsdale this fall.
“The match we’re building up to is coming up really soon, the collegiate match, when we play schools like Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, and the Naval Academy,” Beecher said.
The Hillsdale College and Springfield Armory Collegiate Championship, which is scheduled for Sept. 20-21 at the Ailes Action Shooting Center, is where Hillsdale Action Shooting won its national title last year.
According to Kirstein, the team’s goal is to carry on this legacy.
“We’ll be competing against Navy and Texas A&M, those are probably our two biggest competitors,” Kirstein said. “Our goal is to just knock their socks off.”
