Author: Tom Davis

The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation (SSSF), a 501(c)(3) public charity responsible for all aspects of the Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP) and Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP), is proud to announce the athletes of the 2021 SSSF College All-American Pistol Team. With the recent selection of the SASP as the national governing body by college coaches, the SSSF is proud to continue the All-American Team and has established its first College All-American Pistol Team. These high-performing athletes are honored as All-Americans, meeting stringent score cut-offs.

INTERNATIONAL AIR PISTOL
1ST TEAM

Katelyn Abeln, Sophomore, The Ohio State University

Sara Choe, Freshman, United States Coast Guard Academy

Matthew Donze, Junior, United States Military Academy

Samuel Gens, Senior, The Ohio State University

Henry Leverett, Freshman, The Ohio State University

Jackson Leverett, Freshman, The Ohio State University

Maria Tsarik, Freshman, The Ohio State University

Benjamin Waalkes, Junior, United States Coast Guard Academy

2nd Team

Luke Braun, Sophomore, United States Military Academy

Georgia Eddy, Senior, Texas A&M University

Carrie Haltiwanger, Junior, Presbyterian College

Crystal Kim, Freshman, United States Coast Guard Academy

Con Marrinan, Senior, The Ohio State University

Bernard Melus, Senior, The Ohio State University

Jay Palacios, Texas A&M University

Jared Zollner, Junior, North Dakota State University

Honorable Mention

Amanda Ackerman, Sophomore, The Ohio State University

Benjamin Bryant, Graduate, Texas A&M University

James Burroughes, Sophomore, United States Military Academy

Esther Choe, Senior, United States Coast Guard Academy

Pierce Garver, Sophomore, United States Military Academy

Alexa Hannahs, Junior, North Dakota State University

Steven Jones, Junior, The Citadel

Grace Seong, Sophomore, United States Military Academy

Kaitlin Slaubaugh, Sophomore, North Dakota State University

STANDARD PISTOL
1ST TEAM

Katelyn Abeln, Sophomore, The Ohio State University

Sarah Choe, Freshman, United States Coast Guard Academy

Henry Leverett, Freshman, The Ohio State University

Jackson Leverett, Freshman, The Ohio State University

Benjamin Waalkes, Junior, United States Coast Guard Academy

2nd Team

Samuel Gens, Senior, The Ohio State University

Cade Haiby, Junior, The Ohio State University

Steven Jones, Junior, The Citadel

Bernard Melus, Senior, The Ohio State University

Jared Zollner, Junior, North Dakota State University

Honorable Mention

Jay Palacios, Texas A&M University

INTERNATIONAL SPORT PISTOL
1ST TEAM

Katelyn Abeln, Sophomore, The Ohio State University

Sarah Choe, Freshman, United States Coast Guard Academy

Matthew Donze, Junior, United States Military Academy

Henry Leverett, Freshman, The Ohio State University

Jackson Leverett, Freshman, The Ohio State University

Bernard Melus, Senior, The Ohio State University

Maria Tsarik, Freshman, The Ohio State University

Benjamin Waalkes, Junior, United States Coast Guard Academy

2nd Team

Amanda Ackerman, Sophomore, The Ohio State University

Luke Braun, Sophomore, United States Military Academy

James Burroughes, Sophomore, United States Military Academy

Esther Choe, Senior, United States Coast Guard Academy

Cade Haiby, Junior, The Ohio State University

Chia-Chi Hu, Junior, United States Military Academy

Jay Palacios, Texas A&M University

Jared Zollner, Junior, North Dakota State University

Honorable Mention

Isabella Firenzi, Junior, United States Coast Guard Academy

Steven Jones, Junior, The Citadel

Crystal Kim, Freshman, United States Coast Guard Academy

Soraya Nevin, Sophomore, North Dakota State University

2021 ALL-AMERICAN SCORE CUT-OFFS:
INTERNATIONAL AIR PISTOL
1ST TEAM

Men: 569.00 – 554.13

Women: 559.14 – 546.00

2nd Team

Men: 552.60 – 545.50

Women: 537.82 – 528.40

Honorable Mention

Men: 542.88 – 538.88

Women: 524.75 – 520.00

INTERNATIONAL SPORT PISTOL
1ST TEAM

Men: 567.50 – 559.88

Women: 568.50 – 552.67

2nd Team

Men: 558.14 – 553.75

Women: 540.67 – 526.71

Honorable Mention

Men: 549.11

Women: 524.67 – 523.50

STANDARD PISTOL
1ST TEAM

562.67 – 545.83

2nd Team

540.33 – 532.00

Honorable Mention

530.00

When clay target coaches begin with a new athlete, they often begin with fundamentals of eye dominance. During the first day of St. Mary’s Trap Team practice for Emily Ferguson, she promptly told her coach she was left-eye dominant. When questioned her confidence in that answer before the drill had even begun, she playfully replied, “I only have one eye, trust me on this one.”

Fast forward to present day, Emily Ferguson’s many accomplishments include High Overall Grand Champion of the SCTP Tennessee Trap State Championship, shooting a 199/200 at Nationals 2019, and winning the Rudy Cup, an award only given to the top shooter from Tennessee at Nationals, becoming the first female in history to claim the title. These incredible accomplishments demonstrate the truly level playing field that shooting sports offers young athletes.

As a young adult trying to make sense of her interests and future career choices, she is turning to her own incredibly difficult, yet inspiring experiences. Emily has triumphantly beat cancer three times. Retinoblastoma at just eighteen-months old required removing the right eye to help prevent chance of metastasis. Later at the age of eleven, Ewing sarcoma occurred in Emily’s ribs and part of her lung, with a recurrence requiring treatment five years later. Emily is thankfully in remission and after spending an immeasurable amount of time at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, she has found inspiration in prosthetic design. “Traditional prosthetic limbs are not typically aesthetically pleasing. I found resources online that inspired me to look into unique prosthetic design. I think what I want to do is create unique designs where people want to show them off rather than wearing long sleeves and pants year-round.”

Known on the St. Mary’s Trap Team as “Ace” and team captain, Emily Ferguson embraces her role as a leader for the sport and the SCTP. “I am an introvert by nature, but with my team out on the field, I’m in my element. This is definitely what I love to do and I’m even a certified coach now. It doesn’t feel like work to me and coaching is really something I hope I can continue to do in the future.”

A YOUNGER EMILY FERGUSON COULDN’T HAVE KNOWN THAT STUMBLING UPON SHOOTING SPORTS WOULD BE CHANGING THE TRAJECTORY OF HER LIFE IN SUCH A MEANINGFUL WAY.

Derby Day, as it’s called at St. Mary’s in Memphis, Tennessee, is typical of activity fairs seen throughout the country. At a booth promoting clay target sports is where this soon-to-be champion began her path to development as an athlete and young adult.

“I came out of an all-girls middle school, as a shy, awkward thing. I couldn’t hold a conversation to save my life and wouldn’t look people in the eye. My dad hunts a lot and I saw shooting sports as something to do with dad. My dad has been my one and only financial sponsor in this game since day one. I joined the trap team and in my first year after the SCTP Tennessee State Championship, the team promoted me to varsity. Now I am the Team Captain. I feel a lot more confident in myself. Getting involved in shooting sports and the SCTP, more specifically, has definitely changed my life for the better.”

Away from the line, Emily can be seen laughing and having a good time with the St, Mary’s Trap Team, but in the moments before a shoot, she peels away to compose her mental focus. Those who observe the all-ladies trap team in a competition notice Emily’s leadership and the young athletes shooting together like a well-oiled machine. Quiet fist bumps are exchanged between each station and it’s back to laser-focused performance. Now having graduated from high school, Emily’s time on the St. Mary’s Trap Team has come to an end but she will always be known as “Ace”.

When asked what is next for the champion from Tennessee, she laughed and replied, “I’ll be taking a gap year, but when I go to college something that’s non-negotiable for me is finding college with a shooting team. I want to switch gears to bunker trap. It’s really exciting that bunker is getting more popular. The rest of the world shoots bunker, but no one else in the world shoots American trap!”

For those interested in trying out shooting sports, Emily has very simple advice. “Just try it out. Most people at gun clubs are so helpful and encouraging. You may not even have to buy a gun on the spot. Everyone I’ve met in this sport is so incredibly supportive. Although you do compete against each other, we want each other to be the best out there. I never thought that this would turn into such a big thing for me and here I am doing an interview at the National Championship with the SCTP.”