Sevigny Upsets Leatham to Win USPSA Single Stack Title

SEDRO-WOOLLEY, Wash. — After 16 consecutive years of domination at the premier 1911 pistol match, the name at the top of the leader board at the close of competition was not Leatham, but instead Sevigny, as Dave Sevigny of Smyrna, Ga. won the 2011 Springfield Armory USPSA Single Stack Nationals.

The 14 stage match saw four lead changes as Ted Puente of Milwaukee, Wis. jumped out in front with a stage one win and held the lead through the next two stages.

While Puente took the early lead, Springfield Armory’s 16-time champion Rob Leatham of Mesa, Ariz. sat comfortably in second, falling briefly to third after stage three.

On the fourth stage of the match the lead changed as Shannon Smith of Tampa, Fla. moved to the front after winning the stage. Leatham moved back up into second as Puente fell to fourth.

After starting the match in sixth place, Sevigny moved to third place with four stages completed.

The top three of Smith, Leatham and Sevigny would hold until stage nine at which point Leatham took the lead as Smith fell to third. Sevigny, who won the stage, moved into second and just 5.8083 points behind the leader.

With just five stages left and a total of 525 match points available, it looked as if Leatham had put himself in position to win yet another Single Stack title. However, Sevigny had other plans.

With a strong second place finish on stage 10, Sevigny picked up 16+ points on Leatham, who finished 13th on the same stage, and gave the match its fourth and final lead change. Sevigny finished the match with a final score of 977.8292 points to win the 2011 title.

Leatham, who finished second, briefly narrowed the deficit on stage 11 to come within 2.5326 points of the new leader but could not advance further, ultimately falling 17.2707 points behind with a final score 960.5585 and his very first taste of defeat at the championship.

“It is indeed a new day in the world of Single Stack competition. Dave’s win marks the end of an era, but his victory should come as no surprise as Dave has been in contention before and it was only a matter of time before the name Sevigny topped the Single Stack Nationals final standings,” said Michael Voigt, USPSA president.

While the Leatham-Sevigny battle unfolded over the final stages of the match, so too did the race for the remaining top five positions.

Smith, who fell to third, was able to hold that position through the next stage, stage 10. But on stage 11 he dropped to fifth as StrikeForce Manufacturing’s Todd Jarrett of Hopewell, Va. took third and Nils Jonasson, the reigning USPSA Limited division national champion from Mesa, Ariz., moved into fourth.

On stage 12 the top five saw another shake up as the early leader, Puente, moved up to fourth, pushing Jonasson to fifth. The two then swapped positions on stage 13.

On the final stage of the match, Jonasson surged to third place to finish with 934.9123, more than 25 points out of first. Jarrett fell from third to finish in fourth place with 931.4245, repeating his 2010 and 2009 finishes.

Fifth place went to Team Smith & Wesson’s Phil Strader of Owasso, Okla. Strader made an earlier appearance in the match’s top five through the first two stages of the match but hovered for most of the competition around ninth place. Starting with a stage win on the tenth stage, Strader climbed his way up the ranks to finish with a final score of 918.42.88.

Puente finished sixth with 916.8913. Smith took seventh with 898.1105. Manny Bragg of Kirksville, Mo. finished eighth with 893.0135. Taran Butler of Simi Valley, Calif. placed ninth with 885.0973 and Eric Fuson of Tulsa, Okla. finished tenth with 857.2331.

Also claiming titles at this year’s championship were Sara Dunivin of Phoenix, Ariz. who won the Women’s title with 683.7541 points. The Junior title went to Austin Cisna who finished with 610.3718. Among the seniors, Jon Huspek of St. Paul, Minn. took the Senior title with 735.9336 while Robert Keller of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla claimed the Super Senior title with 577.6446.

The Springfield Armory USPSA Single Stack Nationals were held this past weekend in Barry, Ill. with over 350 top shooters from around the country competing in the event.

The Single Stack Nationals was established in 1994 as the Single Stack Classic by pistolsmith Richard Heinie, and then USPSA Illinois Section Coordinator, Russell Cluver. The match was designed specifically for the 1911 model pistol and no other pistol design has been permitted in the competition.

In 2006, USPSA designated the popular match as a national championship. The name Single Stack refers specifically to magazine used in the 1911 pistol which holds just a single column of ammunition. The 1911 is one of the most popular firearms sold in America and the Single Stack National Championship is the preeminent showcase for the venerable 1911.