Mullins and Heiden: National Men’s and Women’s Trap Champions

The US Olympic Training Complex is home to over thirty Resident Athletes of the shooting sports. The shotgun Resident Athletes made their presence known at this year’s USA Shooting National Championships for Shotgun. Five of the six medalists in the Men’s and Women’s Trap events are Resident Athletes. National Shotgun Coach Bret Erickson called it the “OTC Show,” displaying obvious pride his hard-working residents. The 2009 Champion in the Men’s Open Division, John Mullins, reclaimed his title with a six-target lead. Mullins entered the final nine birds ahead of second place finisher Jacob Turner, but Turner and Collin Wietfeldt turned up the heat in the final, scoring 23 and 22 respectively. However, with a lead that strong they were unable to catch Mullins. Turner shot for a total of 260 targets and Wietfeldt, also the National Champion of the Junior category, shot for 259 targets. Following Wietfeldt in the Junior category was silver medalist Garret Walters, four birds back. TJ Bayer finished in third among Juniors with 254 targets.

Continuing with the Resident Athlete theme was Rachel Heiden, your new Women’s Trap National Champion. Heiden, technically a junior, entered the final in first and remained on top with 253 targets. With a final of 23 targets, Kelsey Zauhar tried to play catch up in the final, but fell short three birds. She was followed by Resident Athlete and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, Corey Cogdell, with 249 targets. Leading the Junior category was Kayle Browning with 243 targets. Browning also shot in the Women’s Open final and finished fourth. She was followed by Miranda Wilder at 241 targets and Caitlin Weinheimer at 235 targets.

For all scores and placings, please visit the match results.

Winchester Ammunition is a Proud Sponsor of the USA Shooting Shotgun Team: Winchester® Ammunition has been the exclusive ammunition sponsor and supplier of the USA Shooting Shotgun Team since 1999. Members of the 2008 shotgun team brought home four medals from Beijing using Winchester AA International Target loads. Winchester is an industry leader in advancing and supporting conservation, hunter education and our country’s proud shooting sports heritage. For more information about Winchester and its complete line of products, visit www.winchester.com.