Held March 20-25 at the historic National Shooting Complex in San Antonio, the ACUI (Association of College Unions International) and SCTP (Scholastic Clay Target Program) College Nationals saw nearly 75 teams from 29 states registering some 770 athletes.
With strong growth of established and new collegiate teams registered with the ACUI and SCTP, the inaugural championship saw almost 4,000 registrations.
“This partnership with the ACUI all started with a phone call by myself last spring and culminated into a very good relationship over this past year,” Tom Wondrash, SCTP national director said. “This partnership ultimately improves the experience at every level for the college coaches and athletes. We had nothing but good things to hear from all of the college coaches and athletes that attended, and the National Shooting Complex staff did an outstanding job hosting us. All in all, a very successful partnership turned into a very successful College National Championship.”
The inaugural event’s popularity is significant when measured next to the SCTP’s junior-aged National Championship which conducted 8,000 registrations last year over a 12-day event, and is known as the one of the largest youth shooting sports events in the world.
“I want to say congratulations to all the students that came out to compete with us in San Antonio for our 2023 ACUI and SCTP Collegiate Clay Target Championships,” Taylor Blechschmid, ACUI’s educational program manager said. “We saw some top-tier shooting from numerous teams and are so excited we could bring together so many groups of athletes from across the country. Their dedication to the sport inspires us to continue aiming high and putting our best foot forward for this community.”
“I couldn’t be happier with how our first partnered nationals event was executed,” Blechschmid said. “We had lofty goals this year and our team put their all into achieving them. From the improved squadding and scoring system, to moving back to a shoot offs and awards day, we feel this was the smoothest the event has ever run and are already working to improve upon this foundation for years to come.”
The SCTP will round out its season at the Cardinal Shooting Center in Marengo, Ohio, this July for the SCTP Junior National Championship, which has been the largest shoot conducted at the facility for three years straight.
The ACUI and SCTP partnership will continue through 2023 and into next year, starting with the International National Championships (Bunker Trap and International Skeet) in October, which will also be held at the Cardinal Shooting Center in Ohio.
See the full results of the 2023 ACUI and SCTP Nationals here.
Learn more about ACUI and the Scholastic Clay Target Program.
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