The Limited-10, Open and Revolver contests at the 2011 STI USPSA National Handgun Championships wrapped up yesterday afternoon in Las Vegas, Nevada in what could only be described as one of the most exciting finishes in recent history. The fourth and final day of competition began with the Open division leader, Team Sig's Max Michel, racing to the range to shoot through his last four stages so he could make a early flight out of town. Why the rush?

Max Michel had a lot to celebrate on Tuesday with a national title win and the birth of his baby daughter. Photo: P. Erhardt

Well, Michel learned late Monday night that his pregnant wife had gone into labor. After a few midnight phone calls, USPSA match officials made arrangements so the Open division super squad shooter, who was scheduled to shoot Tuesday afternoon, could finish the match by shooting through first thing in the morning. After winning two stages and posting his two worst stage finishes, including a 191st place run, Michel rushed to the airport and flew home to be with his wife and newborn daughter in the hospital and posted this update on his Facebook page: The Nationals is a wrap for me and I am now sitting in the hospital with my wife and new baby girl, Makenzie (7.7 lbs and 19.5"). She was born at 4:09am CST this morning. They are both doing great and we thank you for the kind wishes! After the excitement of his mad dash across the country, and the importance of the event that precipitated it, it's almost anti-climatic to point out that Max Michel won the Open division National Championship, winning nine of 20 stages with no 'D' hits, no 'No Shoots, and just two 'Misses' - those coming on his last stage and on only two hours of sleep. Congratulations to Max Michel, and oh yeah, nice shooting too.

With a borrowed gun and orders to win, Rebecca Jones won her third Women's Open title. Photo: P. Erhardt

While Michel was butting to the front of the line, the rest of the top shooters waited until the afternoon, including Rebecca Jones, shooting for Strike Force Manufacturing, who won her third Women's Open National Championship, successfully defending her 2010 win by holding off Jessie Harrison by a margin of 27.3079 points. During the awards ceremony, Jones dedicated her win to John Benton, a close friend battling pancreatic cancer who lent her his own open pistol to compete with this season with instructions to win the national title.

Bob Vogel narrowly beat Rob Leatham to win the Limited-10 title at this year's championships. Photo: Stefan Wendland

The Limited-10 competition provided the championships one of its two 'photo finishes'. Going into the final day of competition, Bob Vogel of the Panteao Productions shooting team led Springfield Armory's Rob Leatham by a narrow 23.6341 points. With four stages left, Leatham closed the gap to the point that the winner was too close to call. After the final point totals were tabulated Vogel had held off Leatham's late charge to win the Limited-10 National Championship by just 0.3435 points.

Lisa Munson won the Limited-10 title after bouncing back from a major hamstring injury. Photo: P. Erhardt

In the Women's Limited-10 contest, Lisa Munson of the Cameron's Custom Guns team claimed the title in an event she didn't think she'd be able to compete in just a couple of months ago when she suffered a severe hamstring. Through aggressive, focused rehab Munson was able to return to peak shooting shape and outpace Glock's Randi Rogers by 18.5711 points. The Revolver match provided the second photo finish of the championships, as well as a USPSA first.

Griffin and Miculek crunch numbers to try and determine which of them won the title. Photo: Stefan Wendland

In the closing stages Smith & Wesson shooter Jerry Miculek's 13.8433 lead over Matt Griffin dwindled away as Griffin took the lead with one stage to go. After completing the final stage the two shooters found themselves in a tight race with neither sure who won. When their stages scores were entered, and the final match points tabulated, Miculek won the title edging out Griffin by just 0.4855 points.

Julie Golob chased down the last remaining division title she needed to make USPSA history. Photo: Stefan Wendland.

And finally, for the first time in USPSA history a shooter has claimed the national title in all six competitive divisions. Using a competition revolver lent to her by Rob Leatham, Smith & Wesson's shooting team captain Julie Golob outgunned her Smith & Wesson teammate Annette Aysen to take the 2011 Women's Revolver National Championship, the last remaining USPSA division title Golob had yet to win. With the Limited-10, Open and Revolver division contests officially in the history books, the match staff today turns to the Limited and Production division portion of the STI USPSA National Handgun Championships, with registration and stage set-up scheduled to begin this morning. If these two events provide even a fraction of the excitement, and last minute drama of the previous division contests, this year's nationals may just prove to be the most hotly contested in USPSA history. - Paul Erhardt, Editor, the Outdoor Wire Digital Network Got shooting sports news? Send us an email at info@shootingwire.com.