Aysens Take Top Honors at ICORE Southern Regional

LOS OSOS, Calif. — It was a big weekend for the Aysen household as the husband and wife shooting team of Elliot and Annette both took top honors at the International Confederation of Revolver Enthusiasts’ (ICORE) 2010 Southern Regional Revolver Championship held this past weekend at the Southern Shooting Center in Thibodaux, La.

Sponsored by firearms maker Smith & Wesson, the Southern Regional drew 50 top revolver competitors from eight states, as well as Canada, to compete for titles in the Open, Limited and Retro divisions. Among those competing were several Team Smith & Wesson shooters including Thibodaux residents Elliot and Annette Aysen who competed in the Limited division and finished first and sixth respectively.

Elliot Aysen claimed the top spot by winning six of the 10 stages and outpacing runner up Sam Keen of Ramer, Texas by more than 33 points with a final score of 233.27, good enough to put him fourth overall. Coming in third was another Team Smith & Wesson member, Tony Phan of Houston, Texas. Phan shot a score of 277.81 that put him 11 points in back of Keen and more than 44 points out of first.

Jess Christensen of Green Forest, Ark. ended the Limited match in fourth place with 283.74 while Gregg Kratochvil of San Antonio, Texas finished fifth with 288.55.

Among the women, Annette Aysen, who pulled double duty during the competition serving as the match director, not only finished sixth in the Limited division to claim the women’s division title, but also placed 11th overall making her the High Lady.

Annette posted the best score of any female competitor on all ten stages on her way to a final score of 297.60 points. Her nearest competitor was Kalamazoo, Michigan’s Sheila Hoekstra who competed in the Open division and finished with a final score of 336.99. Among the women shooting Limited, Barbara Thibodaux, also of Thibodaux, La., finished just under 78 points in back of Aysen to claim second place.

Denise Fox, another Thibodaux resident, took third shooting 378.40. Jane Bailey of Gretna, La. and Corley Marsalis of Madison, Tenn. finished the Limited match in fourth and fifth shooting scores of 581.37 and 654.39 respectively.

The Southern Regional Revolver Championship is the first of six regional events being held around the country and sponsored by Smith & Wesson. More than 14,000 rounds were put down range during the Southern Regional. For further information on the ICORE 2010 Southern Regional Revolver Championship, as well as complete results, visit www.icore.org.