International Championships Registration Open June 15
The SCTP, in conjunction with USA Shooting, is hosting the Scholastic Clay Target Program’s International Style National Championships on July 22-27, 2018 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Registration by SCTP team coaches opens on Friday, June 15 in the SHOT System. Here is the event schedule for the competition: Sunday July 22nd – Open Training for Bunker and Skeet Monday July 23rd – Open Training for Bunker and Skeet Tuesday July 24th – I-Skeet Competition 75 Targets Wednesday July 25th – I-Skeet Competition 50 Targets & Finals (followed by awards) Thursday July 26th – Bunker Trap 75 Targets Friday July 27th – Bunker Trap 50 Targets & Finals (followed by awards) Coaches: The competition registration will open on June 15th for this tournament. You will need to squad your athletes prior to Thursday, July 19th so that they can be placed on random shooting squads for the competition. Walk on’s will generally not be allowed unless there is room available. Top 3 placing athletes in Men’s and Ladies Bunker Trap as well as top 3 placing athletes in International Skeet (12 total athletes) will earn a spot on the 2019 SCTP National Team. Athletes must meet a minimum qualifying score (MQS) of a 90 x 125 or better in the qualification rounds, regardless of finals placing, in order to be eligible for a National Team spot. If all athletes in the final have achieved the MQS, then finals placement will determine the top 3 athletes. However, if there are athletes in a discipline final who have not attained the MQS, those athletes will not be eligible for the National Team, regardless of finals placement. At their discretion, The Head Coach and National Director will then fill any open Team slots with eligible athletes. Due to USA Shooting’s scheduling of the Fall Selection match immediately following the SCTP Nationals, we will not host an awards banquet following this year’s International Nationals to allow athletes time for travel to the Fall Selection. We will award all medals/trophies at the range following the events. Hope to see you all in Colorado Springs in July!! A limited block of hotel rooms has been secured and are available for immediate booking at the Hotel Elegante’ – Colorado Springs. Room rates are $99 for a single or a double. Please contact the Hotel Elegante’ directly at 1-719-576-5900 or 1-800-981-4012. When making your reservations, please reference “USA Shooting / SCTP Nationals”, code #2226494. (this includes breakfast) The cutoff date is July 1st but we would not recommend waiting that long as these rooms will fill up fast, especially at these prices! You can upgrade to different rooms at additional price. See additional information for booking your room and about the Hotel Elegante. Hope to see you all in Colorado Springs in July!!
Bernau’s exceptional performance at the 14th International Junior Grand Prix in Porpetto, Italy earned her an individual gold medal in Women’s Trap, as well as another gold medal in the Mixed Team event with USA Shooting teammate Dale Royer. The Junior Grand Prix in Italy was intended as a warm-up event for USA Shooting’s junior trap and skeet athletes headed to the World Championships in Changwon, Korea later this summer. Bernau earned her spot on the junior World Championship Team at the Spring Selection Match in Tucson, Arizona earlier this year. Yet in spite of her recent success, Bernau remains focused. “It felt like everything I had worked hard for paid off, although I have lots of work to do over the summer to get ready for Worlds,” she explains. There’s little doubt that there are many more gold medals in this athlete’s future. The SCTP National Team provides International Trap and Skeet athletes like Maddy Bernau more coaching and training opportunities and is committed to the vision of putting these athletes into the Olympic pipeline. The 2018/2019 SCTP National Team will be selected July 22-27 at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO.
When describing his experience of being a part of the U.S. Junior Team that earned the team bronze in Moscow, Christman was at a loss for words. He said it was a moment unlike any other and the most rewarding moment of his shooting career. The raw emotions flooding through him described the moment perfectly. “Honestly that is the most… It’s one of the most… I was filled with the most pride when I was in Russia and our country’s flag was being raised on the pole, and you got to hear the United States National Anthem. There were so many other countries there, but yet ours was the one being played and you were one of the few wearing the colors… It was a very humbling experience,” Christman said. Christman, who competes in International Skeet (I-Skeet), began shooting when he was a freshman at Soddy-Daisy High School in Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee. However, now a freshman at Martin Methodist College in Pulaski, Tennessee, he has been shooting I-Skeet for only two years. When Christman began shooting, he did not know that he could even make Team USA or eventually compete at the Olympics. However, a chance encounter with Team USA and two-time Olympic gold medalist shooter Vincent Hancock at the 2015 SCTP National Championships in Sparta, Illinois, inspired him to give I-Skeet a try. He now competes with Hancock on Team USA, whom he has looked up to since they met in 2015. “I was late in the game as far as competition-wise. Most people start when they are a bit younger than I was. I didn’t start shooting international skeet competitively until I was a junior in high school. I was rather old for not knowing what I was doing to begin with, so I had to make a lot of progress in order to get my in,” Christman said. If his championship titles were not proof enough of his abilities, Christman has earned his place on Team USA three times now. He first received a nomination for the team after winning the silver medal at the 2017 National Junior Olympics in Colorado Springs. The same summer he medaled at the Junior Nationals and then made the Junior World Team in 2017. All three instances earned him a spot on Team USA. “I was ecstatic. I knew going into the tournament that was on the line; of course I wasn’t focusing on that, but I knew very well that that was the goal of the tournament. That was the goal of everyone there shooting,” Christman said. “[Team USA] was one of the main things I wanted from the very beginning. Even in the beginning, I really wanted to be a part of a team to just have that sense of pride in your country. That meant a lot to me.” While most members of Team USA live in different states, the camaraderie when the members shoot together is unlike anything else, Christman said. Team USA gives “the opportunity to go travel places and shoot tournaments in different places and experiences to help you grow as an athlete,” he said. 
Even as a freshman in college, Christman manages to dedicate time for both Team USA and the Martin Methodist Clay Target team, as well as himself to his education. A nursing major, Christman is determined to be a specialist in the medical field. Even being on two shooting teams on which he travels internationally through the school year, he has maintained a 3.98 GPA. Christman says it’s a challenge at times, but time management is the key to balancing his extracurricular activities. “That’s just Eli,” said Dylan Owens, a fellow competitor and friend. Emma Williams, a fellow Martin Methodist and Team USA shooter, has seen firsthand how Eli has improved and dedicated himself to the sport. “Eli has improved not only as an athlete, but a person as well since we began shooting together. He is an outstanding shot and continues to improve and work on himself every day,” Williams said. “He always pushes me to do my best and to train as hard as I can. He is one of the hardest working people that I’ve met, and that pushes me to work even harder so I can keep up with him.” Christman trains six days a week for multiple hours to prepare for his upcoming tournaments and makes sure he is the best shooter he can possibly be. Focusing on putting himself in a tournament mindset, Christman treats every practice as if he is in final shoot-offs, which have become the most important events of his tournaments. “If you can make it into the top 6 [of a tournament], it pretty much is up to the 60 targets in the finals. You have 60 targets to make it or break it, so that is what I am focusing on here lately.” Christman will compete in the 2018 World Championships in Changwon, South Korea, in September and Porpetto, Italy, on the Junior Team in preparation for the 2020 Olympics. “Tokyo 2020 is the goal,” Christman said. Christman shoots a Krieghoff K-80, which he connected with immediately. Throughout the many guns he has shot during his career, Christman said the K-80 just clicked with him. Sydney Carson, also a fellow Martin Methodist and Team USA shooter, said that shooting with Christman has made her a better shooter in many ways. His sportsmanship on and off the range pushes her to improve herself. “Eli is the kind of person who will always help you better yourself. Whether it be in training, competition, school, or even just striving to be a better person, he is always setting a great example.” Chad Whittenburg, head coach of the Martin Methodist Clay Target team, believes Christman will continue to succeed in the shooting sports no matter where he goes. “The sky is the limit for this young man. He has the drive, the passion, the resources, the coaching and the environment to achieve any goal he sets. I have no doubt we will see him as an Olympian one day.”
Not only was this particular camp an opportunity to train on the home range of USA Shooting’s National JO Championships as well as the SCTP’s International National Championships, it gave National Team members a chance to test their training under true match conditions. Coach DeWitt explains, “You can never quite replicate match pressure in a training environment, which is what makes ‘practice’ matches like these so valuable.” The results speak for themselves. All four SCTP National Team athletes made the finals in their respective events and two of them came away with medals; AJ Nomina took home a Bronze medal in Skeet and Tyler Theide battled his way to the Silver medal in Trap. National Team (NT) athletes earned their spot via participation and placement in the 
training camp of 2018 at Gator Skeet and Trap Club in Gainesville, Florida January 3-5. Winter Storm Grayson, however, had other ideas. In spite of pouring rain and freezing temperatures, these athletes accepted the challenge, layered up, and shot just over 5000 targets in three days. SCTP athletes in attendance included Mark Shields (NT/Missouri), AJ Nomina (NT/Colorado), Sarah Schwacher (NT/Wisconsin), Jack Brosseau (NT/Florida), Tyler Thiede (NT/Wisconsin), Madeleine Taylor (NT/Alaska), Jay Bible (walk on/Florida), Abbey Wigh (walk on/Florida), Scott Schuldt (walk on/Florida). “It was pretty miserable the first day, but they put their heads down and went to work. Goals don’t wait for the weather to clear up,” said head coach, Terri DeWitt. She and assistant skeet coach Joe Buffa will host another training camp in Tucson, Arizona prior to the USA Shooting Spring Selection Match in March. Other training camps are planned for 2018, but not yet finalized.
“We couldn’t be more proud of Terri and the leadership she is providing for the SCTP National Team!” Said SCTP National Director, Tom Wondrash. “This practice and training is one of many to come that will help these team members surge in the International disciplines. People like Terri and Joe Buffa out there working with these athletes is a very welcome addition to our program!” National Team (NT) athletes earned their spot via participation and placement in the 
“What an awesome opportunity for SCTP athletes to gain first-hand knowledge from the likes of these coaches!” Said Tom Wondrash, SCTP National Director. “I have been part of these camps for 8 years now and they just keep getting better and better. Thank you to 