ACUI Central Midwest Conference Championships
OutdoorHub 10.31.13
The Association of College Unions International (ACUI) Central Midwest Conference Championships took place this past weekend, Oct. 18–20, at the St. Louis Skeet and Trap Club in Pacific, Mo.
ACUI invited local high school juniors and seniors to shoot in a High School Division. The high school students from Arnold Junior Shooters and the American Legion Post 218 Trapshooting Program shot alongside college students from Connors State College, Fort Hays State University (FHSU), and the University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign.
High school students, families, and coaches were able to speak with collegiate coaches and learn more about shooting at the collegiate level. ACUI awarded endowment money for college team High Overall ($5,000) and Runner-Up ($3,500). Each participating college team also received $5,000 and the high school teams received $2,500 in endowment money. All total ACUI gave out $28,500 in endowment funds. All funds were deposited in the teams’ Scholastic Shooting Trust Fund accounts at the MidwayUSA Foundation.
Josh Crankshaw, from FHSU, scored a 95 to win men’s college sporting clays. Austin Svoboda, Robert Ring, and Damian Giles, all from FHSU, tied for second and third with scores of 92. In the ensuing shoot-off, Svoboda took second place, scoring an additional five targets, and Ring placed third with an additional three targets. In the women’s division, Kendal Hostler and Kilee Hutchison, both from FHSU, tied for first place with scores of 86. In the shoot-off, Hostler scored three additional targets to take first place, and her teammate Hutchison took second with a score of 86+2. Ashley Nau, of FHSU, took third place with a score of 80.
In the college men’s American skeet competition Damian Giles, missed just one target and took first place with a score of 99. Teammates Austin Svoboda and Josh Crankshaw from FHSU tied for second. Svoboda’s score of 97+2 put him ahead of Crankshaw’s 97+1, placing them in second and third respectively. Hutchison, FHSU, avenged her loss in sporting clays to teammate Hostler, and took first place with a score of 91. Hostler’s score of 90 placed her in second, and teammate Nau took third with a score of 88.
On the final day of competition, Svoboda and Giles both shot perfect 100s in men’s college American trap. Svoboda took first place with a score of 100+72 and Giles took second with a score of 100+69. The first 25 were shot from the 20-yard line then the shooters were moved back to the 27-yard line. A three-way tie for third place required a shoot-off between Ryan Ashcroft, Connors State College; Jeremy Denny, FHSU; and Josh Crankshaw, FHSU. Shooting from the 20-yard line Denny separated himself from his competition, taking third place with an overall score of 97+25. In the women’s competition, Nau from FHSU took the first place medal, with a perfect score of 100. Nau’s teammates Hostler and Hutchison took second and third with scores of 97 and 94 respectively.
In the High School Division of trap shooting, Nathan Howell from the Arnold Junior Shooters, placed first with a perfect score of 100. Blake Noble, from the American Legion Post 218 Trapshooting Program, scored an 87 and took second place. Andrew Trentmann from the American Legion Post 218 Trapshooting Program, placed third with a score of 84. For the women, Breeann Vieth, from the American Legion Post 218 Trapshooting Program, took first with a score of 94. Teammate Jenna Riegel took second place with a score of 86. Rachel Cover, from the Arnold Junior Shooters, kept it close and took third with a score of 85.
Giles from FHSU won the men’s college High Overall award with a score of 291. With a score of 273, the women’s college High Overall award went to Hostler from FHSU.
FHSU completed its weekend by taking the college team High Overall award with a score of 1424. The team Runner-Up award went home with the Connors State College team, which scored a combined 1053.
ACUI would like to thank the MidwayUSA Foundation and Scholastic Shooting Trust Fund for providing endowment funds for teams. With their support, as well as the generosity of Larry and Brenda Potterfield, the ACUI program continues to reach new students and new teams across the country.
