Leathams Deliver 1-2 Punch at USPSA Area 2 Championship

Photo by Yamil Sued

SEDRO-WOOLLEY, Wash. – Mesa, Arizona’s husband and wife shooting duo of Rob and Kippi Leatham delivered a one-two punch for their sponsor Springfield Armory as the two once again captured titles at the U.S. Practical Shooting Association’s (USPSA) Area 2 Regional Handgun Championship this past weekend at the Rio Salado Sportsman’s Club in Mesa, Ariz.

Kippi, the defending Lady’s Production division champ, repeated as the Production champ with a final score of 760.3659. Husband Rob, who won the Limited division title in 2009, moved to the Single Stack division this year where he dominated the field with a final score of 1169.5110 to win the title.

“The Leathams continue to be a dominant force in USPSA competition,” said Michael Voigt, president of the U.S. Practical Shooting Association. “They are well known in the sport and are fixtures at most of our major matches where they can usually be found holding trophies, just like at this weekend’s Area 2 Championship.”

To win the Lady’s Production title, Leatham outpaced her nearest competitor, Carrie Carlson of St. Peters. Mo. by over 87 points. Carleson finished second with 672.7233 points. Carrie Jamrogowicz of Missoula, Mont., who won the title in 2008, finished in third with 630.3653 points. Ana Lisa Christensen of Phoenix, Ariz. and Lisa Larson of St. Cloud, Minn. finished in fourth and fifth with 552.1019 and 538.5391 respectively.

Photo by P. Erhardt

Rob Leatham’s path to victory was slightly easier as the 16-time Single Stack National Champion dominated the match with a final score that was more than 182 points ahead of the second place shooter, Mike Lin of Gilbert, Ariz. who posted 987.0390 for his final score.

Michael Foley of Lexington, Ky. claimed third with 923.9701 while Rich Higgins of Mesa, Ariz. finished fourth with 905.1718 and Shane Player of Tempe, Ariz. shot his way to fifth with a score of 873.2996 points.

The USPSA Area 2 Championship drew more than 370 top competition shooters. Area 2 is the Southwest region within USPSA, one of the eight shooting regions in the country, and is made up of Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii and New Mexico but shooters from around the country attended.

To learn more about USPSA, or to become a member, visit USPSA.org, follow @USPSA_Shooting on Twitter or visit the Practical Shooting blog.