Mason-Dixon Clay Busters Take Collegiate Div. Trap National Title

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Mason-Dixon Clay Busters out of Pennsylvania broke 947 of a possible 1,000 targets to take home the Trap title in the Collegiate Division at the 2016 Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) National Team Championships in Ohio.

Stephanie Beardsley of Glen Rock, the division’s female Top Gun, led her team’s winning effort by breaking 195 of her 200 targets. Mark Beardsley of Glen Rock, Pa., Preston Whiteman of Camp Hill, Pa. and Tori Mann of Hampstead, Md. broke 189 targets each while Shelby Evens of Crawford, Ga. added 185.

Second place in the division, with 922 targets, went to the Covington 4-H Trap squad. Amber Pruitt of McKenzie led the Tennessee shooters with 187 targets, followed by Nicholas Russell of Covington with 186, Jerrell Burns of Munford with 185, Jordan Gray of Brighton with 184 and Matthew Obrien of Covington with 180.

The Jacksonville (Fla.) University Sporting, Skeet & Trap Team placed third with a total of 906 targets. Benji Felder of Jacksonville, Fla. led with 194, followed by Parker Woodring of Carmichaels, Pa. with 187, Trysten Routledge of Jacksonville, Fla. with 183, Sean Hensley of Lake Panasofkee, Fla. with 179 and Joe Byron of Phoenixville, Fla. with 163

Held July 9-16 at the Cardinal Shooting Center in Marengo, Ohio, nearly 2,200 athletes representing 28 states faced more than 961,000 clay targets during eight days of competition in the shooting disciplines of Trap, Skeet and Sporting Clays.

The Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) is a youth development program in which adult coaches and other volunteers use the shooting sports of Trap, Skeet and Sporting Clays, as well as the Olympic disciplines of Bunker Trap, Trap Doubles and International Skeet to teach and to demonstrate sportsmanship, responsibility, honesty, ethics, integrity, teamwork, and other positive life skills. Nationally, there are nearly 13,700 students and more than 2,900 coaches from 43 states participating in the Scholastic Clay Target Program.

The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc. (SSSF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the National Governing Body for the Scholastic Clay Target Program. SCTP was started by the National Shooting Sports Foundation in 2001.

For more information about SCTP and SSSF, visit www.sssfonline.org. You can also follow SCTP on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ShootSCTP or @ScholasticShootingSports on Instagram.