Some championships are decided in a single moment. This one took 450 consecutive broken targets to settle and, even then, it ended in a draw.
Team Federal’s Weston Anderson of Nyssa, Oregon, was declared the Singles Co-Champion at the 2026 Southern Grand American on Sunday, Mar. 15, sharing the title with Fiocchi-sponsored shooter Ricky Marshall, Jr., after a shoot-off that stretched across two days and ranks among the longest in recent ATA memory.
The marathon began Saturday after Anderson was one of five shooters to post a perfect 200 out of 200 in the Browning Singles Championship at Silver Dollar Shooters Club in Odessa, Florida. After five rounds of shoot-off on Saturday, time restrictions forced a halt and Anderson advanced to the Sunday continuation with two others. From there, he and Marshall, Jr., kept breaking targets—450 consecutive in all—before the co-championship was declared.
“They crushed targets and had soft recoil that kept me on the gun round after round,” Anderson said of the Federal All-American shotshells he used throughout the shoot-off, noting his preference for the 1⅛-ounce, 1,145 fps, No. 8 loads in Singles.
Anderson’s week in Florida extended well beyond the Singles Championship. He earned the Junior Championship title in Doubles and in the preliminary events, he won the Doubles Junior title, also finishing as the Singles Class Championship Junior runner-up.
Neilson’s Near-Perfect Week
Amateur Trapshooting Association Hall of Famer Deborah Ohye Neilson turned in perhaps the most complete performance of the week, winning both the High All Around and High Over All Championships in the Lady II Division. She also claimed the Singles and Doubles Championships in Lady II, and came within a single event of a clean sweep—finishing second in the Handicap Championship. In the preliminary events, Neilson added five more titles to an already staggering haul.
The 46th Southern Grand American ran March 8-15 across 15 events at Silver Dollar Shooters Club, drawing 507 competitors from across the country for one of the ATA’s marquee circuit stops. Championship events, including the Singles, Doubles and Handicap Championships, plus the High All Around and High Over All, were contested during the final five days.
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