The Lindenwood University Lions marched to a 14th straight national title at the 2017 Association of College Unions International (ACUI) Collegiate Clay Target Championship in San Antonio, TX, earlier this month. Now in its 49th year, the 2017 ACUI Collegiate Clay Target Championship had 828 student-athletes competing from 85 schools—120 more than in 2016.
The deep Lindenwood squad swept the team competition in all six ACUI events. USA Shooting National Team athlete Myles Walker (Elkhorn, WI) and National Junior athlete Nic Moschetti (Broomfield, CO) helped keep the record streak alive for Lindenwood. The Lions are coached by longtime USA Shooting Team athlete and 2004 Olympian Shawn Dulohery, and their alumni includes 2016 Olympic finalist Morgan Craft (Muncy Valley, PA).
Texas A&M University, led by National Junior Team member Zach McBee (College Station, TX), finished second, followed by Bethel (Tennessee) University.
The National Rifle Association served as a Platinum Title Sponsor of the 2017 ACUI Collegiate Clay Target Championship, donating $5,000 in scholarship money granted to 10 competitors who won NRA Shootouts in different disciplines throughout the competition.
Twelve collegiate shotgun shooters; including National Team athlete Sydney Carson (North Liberty, IN), and Junior Olympic Squad members Stephanie Gutierrez (Valencia, CA) and Aaron Wilson (Lansing, KS) will represent their respective colleges and universities on the inaugural USA Shooting Collegiate Team following competition in the International Shootout. This is the fourth year that ACUI hosted the International Shootout featuring competition for both men and women in the International Skeet and Trap events.
Competitors for this event were selected from top finishers during ACUI International Conference Championships and Super Shoots in Tillar, AS; San Antonio, TX; Tucson, AZ; Colorado Springs, CO and Fort Benning, GA. Additional spots were filled using top scores from participants at the Eastern International Conference Championship, Lower Midwest International Conference Championship, Western International Conference Championships, and East and West Super Shoots.
Prize awards for the International Shootouts are placed in the team’s MidwayUSA Foundation endowment account for which the student-athlete is competing. The top six finalists will earn $500 with the third place finisher getting another $500, while second place garners an additional $1,000. The Champion earns $2,000.
It was a big day for the Martin Methodist (Tennessee) College Redhawks who had three of the four champions and earned five total team spots. The Redhawks, coached by USA Shooting’s Development Coach of the Year in 2015—Chad Whittenburg, have built a competitive collegiate shooting team since the program began four years ago—and the fruit of that labor is evidenced by their Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) National Championship in 2016. They finished second overall in the Division II standings behind Midland (Nebraska) University. Midland is coached by four-time Olympian Bret Erickson.
USA Shooting National Team member and Redhawk sophomore Sydney Carson earned championship honors in Women’s International Skeet. Ari Montemayor (Baylor) was second while Erin Lokke (Concordia University, NE) finished third. Carson’s teammate, Colin King (Mount Pleasant, TN), earned the title in Men’s Skeet while former USA Shooting Junior Team member Remington McBee (Schreiner University) was second. Redhawk Aaron Wilson finished third. Coleman Etelkozi (Tampa, FL), a Redhawk sophomore, earned the top podium spot in Men’s International Trap. Joining him was runner-up Austin Svoboda (Fort Hays State University, KS) and in third place George Clark (University of Arizona).
Barbara Brown (University of the Ozarks, AK) grabbed the win in Women’s Trap followed by Sierra Stokes (Texas Tech) and Redhawk freshman Stephanie Gutierrez.
View the 2017 ACUI Collegiate Clay Target Championship results at this link: http://clay.acui.org/17lclay/results/
