ACUI South East Conference Championships
OutdoorHub 01.23.13
The Association of College Unions International (ACUI) Southeastern Conference Championships took place this past weekend, Jan. 18–20, at Forest City Gun Club in Savannah, Ga. Eighteen students from three colleges and universities participated in Sporting Clays, American Skeet, and American Trap during the three–day event.
ACUI awarded endowment money for team High Overall ($5000), Runner up ($3000) and Third place ($2000). Each participating team also received $5000 in endowment money, and the host team from Florida State University received $2500 in endowment money and $2500 in operating funds for hosting the event. In total ACUI gave out $30,000 in endowment and operating funds. The endowment funds will be deposited in the team’s Scholastic Shooting Trust Account at MidwayUSA Foundation.
Mr. Mike Simpson, USA Shooting Assistant National Coach and the coach of the host team Florida State University stated, “I was impressed with the range and the hospitality here at the Forest City Gun Club. Our team really came together at this event. It was great to seeing the other colleges here and having great fellowship together. All in all it was a wonderful experience for this young shooting community. ACUI is fantastic for putting together a great shooting sports program that includes giving these young athletes the opportunity to continue their shooting careers, they are all to be applauded”.
Charles Cawthon, Head Coach of Emmanuel College added: “Our team had a great time at the ACUI Southeast Conference Championships. It is always fun to be at the historic Forest City Gun Club in Savannah, Ga. It is also great to see the college shotgun sports being promoted and advanced”.
Alex Rennert, from the University of Florida, scored an 85 to win men’s sporting clays on a course that many agreed was very challenging. Leif Willey, of the University of Florida, placed second with a score of 83. Amir Keshavarz, also from the University of Florida, rounded out the top three with a score of 76. In the women’s division, Amy Gillion, from Florida State University, took home first place.
In the men’s American skeet competition, Jeremy Jackson from Emmanuel College took home the first place medal with a score of 95. Richard Young from Emmanuel College placed second with a score of 94. Finally, Amir Keshavarz, from the University of Florida completed the top three with a score of 94. For the women, Amy Gillion from Florida State University placed first with a score of 55.
On their final day of competition, American Trap, Leif Willey from the University of Florida shot a perfect score of 100 to take first place, Alex Rennert also from the University of Florida, with a 99, took the second place medal. Tyler Froeba from the University of Florida took home third place with a score of 92. In the women’s competition, Amy Gillion from Florida State University took the first place medal, scoring 83 targets.
Alex Rennert and Leif Willey, both from the University of Florida, tied for the men’s High Overall Award with a preliminary score of 274. Alex won the Five Stand shoot-off 8 targets to 6, to claim the HOA trophy. With a score of 177, the women’s High Overall award went to Amy Gillion from Florida State University. All three athletes had a weekend of great consistent shooting.
The University of Florida completed their weekend by taking the team High Overall Award with a score of 1283. The team runner up award went home with Florida State University, who scored a combined 1102. Emmanuel College took third place with a score of 494.
There are five additional ACUI Clay Target Divisional Championships this year. Check the ACUI website for additional information. The ACUI Collegiate Clay Target National Championships will be held at the National Shooting Center in San Antonio, Texas March 26 – 31, 2013
ACUI has organized the collegiate clay target championships for 45 years. The Clay Target Collegiate Shotgun Bowl Series was created to provide additional opportunities for competition closer to participating campuses, thereby allowing full team roster participation. To learn more about ACUI, call 4422.ACUI.CT (442.222.8428) or visit www.acui.org/claytargets
For more information, please contact Jake Dawes, recreational and leisureactivities coordinator, at 812.245.8058 or jadawes@acui.org or Russ Arnold at 817.690.6194 or rga@ss-consulting.org
