Fourteen members of the UW–Platteville Sportsmen’s Club traveled to San Antonio the last week of March to compete the ACUI Collegiate Clay Target National Championships.
According to club vice president Dan Dombrowski, the club, “in general performed better than any year that since it has been going down there.” The Club was foremd by Casey Hauer and Brett Shipman during the 2008 spring semester.
UW–Platteville placed fifth out of 19 teams in the Division 2 American Trap competition, the team’s best event, with a score of 489 out of a possible 500. A year ago, UWP placed sixth in Division 3.
Dombrowski, a sophomore from Muskego ran 100 straight (shot down all 100 clay targets) in the American Trap competition, breaking the school record in the even and ended up placing 11th out of 398 entries in the Men’s Open individual standings. In all, there were 830 competitors from 80 different schools at this year’s national championships, more than any other year it has existed.
John McCrae and junior Tyler Buchanan each hit 98 out of 100 targets, while junior Evan Reichert hit 97 and junior Dietric De Jager 96. McCrae placed 44th and Buchanan, the UWP Sportsmen’s Club president, finished 62nd.
Other members of the team that also competed at the ACUI National Championships were Justin Zuhlke, Peter Chin, Ryan Bildeaux, Jordan Frentz, Brent Debruine, Sarah Schmitz, Jaren Fischer, Jason Bohannon and Kenneth King.
The UWP team competed against schools from all over the country, both big and small, in five competitions throughout the six-day event.
UW–Platteville’s five-man team of De Jager, Buchanan, Chin, Frentz and Reichert placed 18th in D2 in American Skeet. Zuhlke, Buchanan and McRae teamed up to finish 12th in D2 in the three-person International Trap competition.
Buchanan, McRae, Frentz, Bildeaux and Reichert finished 15th in the D2 Five Stand competition.Buchanan, DeBruine, Chin, McRae and Reichert placed 17th in the D2 Sporting Clays contest.
The UW–Platteville Sportsmen’s Club currently has 55 active members. The club practices archery on Wednesday nights and trap shooting on Thursdays at the Cassville Conservation Club, and shoots skeet on Fridays in Peosta, Iowa.
Trap shooting is one of the three major disciplines of competitive clay pigeon shooting, where participants attempt to shot down flying clay targets using shot guns. In trap shooting, the targets are launched from a single “house” or machine, generally away from the shooter. In skeet shooting, targets are launched from two “houses” in somewhat “sideways” paths that intersect in front of the shooter. Sporting clays includes a more complex course, with many launch points.
If you are interested in finding out more about the club, or joining, contact Dombrowski, at 414-416-8490.
