SAN ANTONIO, Texas – A week's worth of competition culminated in a historic runner-up finish for the Martin Methodist Clay Target team last week at the ACUI National Championship.
The RedHawks connected on their highest target count to date at the nation's premier event, hitting 2452-of-2600 targets for a 94.3 percent clip. The percentage led the RedHawks to the Division II Team High Overall runner-up trophy.
And while the runner-up finish was certainly impressive, perhaps even more impressive was the RedHawks fifth-place finish overall – regardless of division. For comparison, the RedHawks finished just 26 targets behind Division I school Texas A&M University.
In team discipline awards, the RedHawks finished first in American Skeet (496-of-500) and International Skeet (271-of-300). The RedHawks took second place in Wobble Trap (283-of-300), Sporting Clays (438-of-500) and Super Sporting (469-of-500).
FULL ACUI RESULTS
Individually, several RedHawks shined in San Antonio, led by senior Caleb Lindsey (SR/Spring Hill, Tenn.) and freshman Grayson Davey (FR/Anchorage, Alaska), who tied for first overall in American Trap with perfect scores of 100. Lindsey was also tied for the high American discipline honors as he scored 100 in American Trap and 99 in American Skeet. Davey, meanwhile, finished second in Combined Trap with a 100 in American Trap and 95 in Wobble Trap.
Sophomore Austin Carelton tied for first in American Skeet with a perfect score of 100.
Junior transfer Maddy Bernau took third overall in American Trap with a score of 98.
Four members of the team were named to the NRA All-American Team, which is comprised of the Top 25 Collegiate Shotgunners. Carelton and freshmen Reagan Harding (FR/Richmond, Ind.) and Lonnie Dillard III (FR/Grants Pass, Ore.) were both named Second Team All-American while sophomore Eli Christman (SO/Chattanooga, Tenn.) earned honorable mention honors. The four representatives are the most by the RedHawks in program history after they had two honored in 2018.
Competition began early with the USA International Shootout. The RedHawks have dominated this competition the past years, taking four out of a possible four gold medals. This year proved no different as the RedHawks secured two more gold medals. Christman qualified with 119-of-125 targets and fired 57-of-60 targets in the final to win his second consecutive gold medal in Men's Skeet.
Teammate Sydney Carson (SR/North Liberty, Ind.) qualified with 114-of-125 targets and then finished 50-of-60 in the final. After falling to another RedHawk shooter as a freshman, Carson rattled off three straight golds to finish as a three-time individual national champion.
