2017 SCTP National Championship Recap

What a tremendous week, eight days of fun, fellowship and firearms! A Mason-Dixon record twenty-nine team members and their families traveled to Marengo, Ohio and the Cardinal Shooting Center for the 2017 SCTP/SASP Nationals Team Championship. This was Mason-Dixon’s 8th year attending the SCTP Nationals and it proved to be one of our best.

The week started off strong Saturday and Sunday with seven members of the team shooting Double Trap and Bunker (International) Trap. Mason-Dixon did very well in both events. In Double Trap our Senior Varsity squad finished a very respectable 8th while our Bunker Trap squads finished just off the podium in 4th in the Open Division and 9th in the Senior Division. In addition, Mark Beardsley, Mason-Dixon’s high shooter, took first place earning him the title of Collegiate Division National Bunker Trap Champion. The second year in a row he has earned that title.

Monday and Tuesday saw rain play a huge role in all the events. We sent 11 athletes onto the mud soaked courses for what would be a couple good days of sporting clays. Our Senior Varsity squads finished 26th and 107th while our Open squad finished 12th. Dawson Sterner was the team’s high over all shooter for the event placing him 4th as an individual in the Junior Senior Varsity Division.

Fifteen Clay Busters hit the Skeet fields Wednesday and Thursday for what was said to be the biggest skeet tournament, in participants, in the world. Our Senior Varsity squads placed 39th, 53rd, and 87th. Our Junior Senior Varsity squad placed 19th. Mark Beardsley ran 100 straight on Thursday on his way to a team high two-day total of 199/200 earning him the title of Collegiate Division National Champion.

Thursday also saw our pistol division take to the range. Mason-Dixon sent six Senior Varsity shooters to the competition. Our Senior Varsity squad placed 9th while our Open placed 26th. Carson DeVoe posed the team’s best time helping the Senior Varsity squad shave over 25 seconds off of last years’ time.

We started the day Friday with Double Skeet, our only single-day event of the championship. All 15 of our skeet shooters participated and Mason-Dixon fared well. Our Senior Varsity squads finished 36th and 38th while our Open squad finished just out of the awards in 7th. Dawson Sterner was the team’s high over all shooter for the event placing him 2nd as an individual in the Junior Senior Varsity Division.

The week came to an end with Trap on Friday and Saturday. A team high twenty-nine Clay Busters participated in the two day 200 targets final event. Our Senior Varsity squads finished 31st, and 58th. Our Junior Senior Varsity finished 36th. Our Open squads finished 46th, 84th, and 132nd. Gianna Patti shot her personal best placing her 5th as an individual in the Ladies Junior Senior Varsity Division. In addition, Noah Temple, helped earn Pennsylvania’s All State Trap team a second place finish.

Please join me in congratulating all of our athletes and coaches. Their dedication and commitment to excellence has made Mason-Dixon one of the elite programs in the nation. Our program placed 15th overall in the nation, up from 28th in 2016. We were also the highest placing team in Pennsylvania.

Special thanks to our wonderful families and friends who made the week so incredibly special. It’s never too early to begin planning for next year! We already have campsites and hotel rooms booked for next year so if you would like to join in on the fun and excitement of 2018 SCTP Nationals just let us know and we will give you the information you need to get started.  If you attended nationals this year and have any suggestions for what we can do to make next year even better, please feel free to share your thoughts.

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