S&W Production Shooters Go 1-2 at USPSA Area 4 Match

Mike Seeklander outpaced fellow Team S&W member Phil Stader by 60 points to win the Production title.

SEDRO-WOOLLEY, Wash. — Tulsa area shooters, and Team Smith & Wesson members, Mike Seeklander and Phil Strader of Owasso, Okla. placed first and second respectively in the Production division contest at the U.S. Practical Shooting Association’s (USPSA) 2010 Area 4 Handgun Championship this past weekend in Princeton, La.

The match, which was sponsored by Texas-based firearms maker STI International, saw nearly 60 shooters, including three Grand Masters and seven Masters, battle for the top spot in this the second of eight practical shooting regional championships.

Seeklander, a Master class shooter, edged out Strader, a Grand Master, by just over 60 points, winning four of the 12 stages and posting a final score of 1336.3542 to claim the Production division title. The win represents the 39th of the season for Team Smith & Wesson.

“Production division continues to grow, and with more factory-supported shooting teams like those of Smith & Wesson, CZ USA, Glock and Sig Sauer, that trend will continue and top shooters like Mike will find their way to the winner’s circle,” said Michael Voigt, president of USPSA.

Team S&W member Phil Strader finished 2nd in the Area 4 Production match.

Strader finished second with a score of 1276.2913. CZ USA’s sponsored shooter Matt Mink of Conway, Ark., who is also a Grand Master as well as last year’s winner, placed third with three stage wins and a final score of 1236.2286.

Rounding out the top five were Texans Kale Garretson of Lubbock, another Grand Master who placed third in 2009, and Jason Tielke of Houston. The two shooters finished fourth and fifth respectively shooting 1234.9292 and 1076.3109.

In the Lady’s Production division contest, Rhonda Stonaker of Plano, Texas won the third stage of the match to take the lead away from Jayne Pacifico of Austin, Texas who started out with a win on the first stage.

Stonaker then proceeded to win the next seven consecutive stages, as well as the final stage, for a total of nine stage wins. She claimed the Lady’s Production title with a final score of 850.6102.

Carrie Carlson of St. Peters, Mo. finished fourth in 2009 but placed second this year by moving into second place after sixth stage and holding it through to the end of the match. Carlson won stage two of the match and posted a final score of 630.2694.

Last year’s runner-up, Woolrich Elite Tactical shooting team member Tammy Sharp of Preston, Okla., dropped to third this year with a final score of 606.5729. Pacifico picked up her second and final stage win on the 11th stage of the match but could not finish higher than fourth with her final score of 576.7654. Repeating her 2009 fifth place finish was Marlene Coley of Leeland, Miss. who shot 304.4175.

In the Seniors category, Curtis Darrah of New Iberia, La. took top honors in the Production division shooting a final score of 594.0855.

The STI Area 4 Handgun Championship was held at the Shootout Range in Princeton, La. The match drew 230 top shooters from Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, the four states that make up Area 4, as well as Arizona, California, Georgia, Idaho Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin and Canada.

The next regional championship on the practical shooting calendar is the Canyon Creek Area 5 Championship scheduled for June 10-13 at the Tri County Gun Club in Polo, Ill. For more information on USPSA, upcoming matches and full match results, visit www.USPSA.org.