The Grace Shooting Sports Club (GSSC) at Grace College recently won the Team High Overall honors in all three divisions: Overall, Women, and Men at the Indiana Wesleyan University Wildcat Invitational. Grace outshot teams from Indiana Wesleyan, Purdue and Ferris State.
“We are thrilled to see more colleges and universities in Indiana and the region begin shooting sports clubs and host invitational events like this one,” said Paul Blair, GSSC head coach. “While we enjoy the spirit of competition with our peer schools, working together to strengthen our sport is just as rewarding.”
The women’s team took the high score overall, supported by dominant performances from the team’s female shooters. Lexas McCallister was the top shooter in trap singles and trap doubles. She placed second in handicap trap and was the high overall women’s champion. Teammate Lauren Papenfus took second in trap singles and third place in handicap trap. Complementing the team’s performance, Addison Clark, who was competing for the very first time, took second in trap doubles.
The men’s team finished high overall as well. On an individual basis, Matthew Walters took second place among the men in trap doubles.
The single-day event included each athlete shooting three events (trap singles, trap doubles and handicap trap from the 23-yard line) at a total of 250 targets. This was the second year for the event, sponsored by Indiana Wesleyan University.
In its ninth year, the GSSC is a recreational shotgun shooting club that focuses on promoting gun safety, enhancing shooting skills and connecting with the shooting community. The group strives to promote a positive image of shooting sports, provide opportunities for leadership development and enhance community awareness of safe shooting practices.
The GSSC is open to all Grace students and meets twice a month at KOSKO Shotgun Sports Complex, 2391 Fox Farm Road, Warsaw. Practices include shooting a variety of sporting clays, trap and skeet. There are currently 63 Grace students on the GSSC roster, and ten participate as part of the competitive team.
To learn more about GSSC, contact Coach Paul Blair at blairp@grace.edu.
Photo: (Left to right): Jackson Million, Niko Lopez, Micah Graber, Lexas McCallister, Matthew Walters, Lauren Papenfus, Cody Plisky, Addison Clark, Thomas O’Neil, Jakob Haber, Paul Blair (Coach), John Thomas and Joel Petrie.
