Northwestern PA represented well at trapshooting nationals
Jul. 14—MASON, Mich. — Several area athletes competed in the 2023 USA High School Clay Target League National Championship last week in Mason, Michigan.
Teams from Maplewood, Saegertown, Conneaut and Cambridge Springs all competed in the holiday event which took place from July 5th to July 9th.
Over 1,800 student athletes representing more than 240 high schools took part in this tournament and western Pennsylvania was represented well.
In overall team competition, Maplewood placed 14th with a total score of 479 points. Conneaut Area Senior High School placed 65th with a 460 score.
Fort LeBoeuf High School took third as a team in the entire tournament coming behind Rock Creek High School from Kansas and the winning Calhoun High School from Illinois.
Curtis Caldwell of Cambridge Springs took seventh in the Individual National Championship round with a perfect score of 100. An impressive feat considering the sheer volume of other competitors at the event.
"Overall it was a great experience," said Caldwell. "I am proud of myself and happy I got to represent Cambridge Springs and northwestern PA."
Despite his 100, eighteen other shooters also scored a perfect score so a shoot-off was held, which broke the ties.
The shooters went through a process of elimination, shooting targets from further and further yard lines until one shooter reined supreme.
"My previous experiences with shootouts had not gone well," said Caldwell. "I had only won one or two, so I was a little nervous," said Caldwell.
Caldwell hit all 25 targets in the first round of the tiebreaker on the 16-yard line and again on the 20 yard line. He finally missed a shot at the 24 yard line, which allowed others to pass him as he settled for seventh place.
Landon Sievers from Calhoun High School in Illinois won the shoot-out and therefore the championship for the boys and Audrey Gordon of Southwestern High School, Illinois, did the same for the girls.
"Every tournament is different, but that was the first time they had ever had that many kids shoot that many perfect scores," said Caldwell.
Caldwell is just another example of a northwestern Pennsylvanian taking an interest in the sport of trap shooting. The rising senior at Cambridge Springs has been shooting since sixth grade.
Through his travels over the years Caldwell fittingly shot his first ever 25, 50, 75 and now 100 perfect scores at the Michigan Trapshooting Association in Mason, Michigan.
It's no secret that kids from this region like guns and shooting. So why not compete in a sport that's all about shooting?
The results from nationals only show the development of trapshooting in the area as the unofficial high school summer sport of NWPA.
"We definitely have made a name for us to say the least," said Caldwell. "Team-wise Fort LeBoeuf took third, Maplewood placed 14th, and I took seventh individually. Theres definitely a big push for it in the area."
Owen Krepps can be reached at 814-724-6370 or at owenk@meadvilletribune.com.
