The Tennessee Scholastic Clay Target Program (TNSCTP) has proven once again to be the top trap, skeet and sporting clays program in the nation for boys and girls, and it wasn’t even close. Among the more than 3,000 athletes competing at the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation National Championships in Marengo, Ohio, July 9-16, the Volunteer State came away with 100 individual and team awards and 23 national championships.
Cumberland County led the charge, with seven first-place finishes overall and six national championships for Carey Garrison across multiple divisions in Ladies Trap, Skeet and Sporting Clays. Other notables were the Haywood County Young Guns, with 11 overall medals and a national championship in the Intermediate Entry Skeet Squad division, and the Unaka Shooters team of Johnson City, with national championships for Jacob McInturff in the Varsity Skeet division and Sarah McInturff in the Ladies College Skeet division. At the collegiate level, the UT-Martin and Bethel University teams delivered nine medals, including first-place finishes for Bethel’s Clint Hinton in Men’s Skeet and Sporting Clays and for Joseph Simmons and Shelby Simmons of UT-Martin in Doubles and Handicap Trap, respectively.
The National Championships event marked the first time on the big stage for the all-girls preparatory school St. Agnes of Memphis, and they rose to the challenge. Julia Stallings won first place in the Collegiate Ladies Bunker Trap division and third in Ladies College Sporting Clays, and Ainsley Harrington in the Ladies Intermediate Advanced Handicap Trap division.
“This is one of the few sports where men and women can compete together on a team, and females can be some of our best shooters,” said Mike Butler, CEO of the Tennessee Wildlife Federation, which oversees the state’s SCTP program. “It’s also a sport that participants can enjoy for the rest of their lives, and earn scholarships and even pursue Olympic opportunities.”
The Tennessee Scholastic Clay Target Program provides youth grades 5-12 and college an opportunity to participate in the three main shotgun shooting disciplines – skeet, trap and sporting clays – with peers from across the state. TNSCTP is designed to teach the importance of safe firearms handling, responsibility, leadership, teamwork, and to promote healthy competition.
TNSCTP is a program of the Tennessee Wildlife Federation, a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of Tennessee’s wildlife and natural resources through stewardship, youth engagement and public policy. Now in its 70th year, TWF brings together and represents the varied interests of people who enjoy the great outdoors.
As the top competitive youth shotgun shooting program in America today, TNSCTP includes more than 2,000 participants across the three main division. Several TNSCTP shooters and coaches have been chosen for Junior Olympic Development Camp, and many have competed internationally.
To learn more about TWF or TNSCTP, visit www.tnwf.org.
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