COLUMBUS, Ohio – The top male and female athletes in Sporting Clays were recognized by the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) at the 2016 National Team Championships for their outstanding individual performances in each of its six competitive divisions.

Honored for their ability to break clay targets on the Sporting Clays course at the SCTP Nationals were women shooters Carey Garrison (Crossville, Tenn.) of the Cumberland County Clay Crushers in the Rookie Division with 127; Abigale Wigh (Dover, Fla.) of the FishHawk Dynasty in the Intermediate/Entry Level Division with 148; Abigail Conrad (Bristol, Wisc.) of the B.H.S. Demons Shooting Team in the Intermediate/Advanced Division with 154; Ashley Blenker (Cooper City, Fla.) of the Young Guns At Quail Creek in the Junior Varsity Division with 167; Morgan E. Goette (Milledgeville, Ga.) of the Brookline Top Shots in the Varsity Division with 184; and Shelby Evens (Carwford, Ga.) of the Mason-Dixon Clay Busters in the Collegiate Division with 172.

Among the men competing this year the top performances came from Trevor Hinton (Riverview, Fla.) of the FishHawk Dynasty in the Rookie Division with 152; Baylor Garland (Eatonton, Ga.) of the Lake Oconee Shotgun Team in the Intermediate/Entry Level Division with 184; Tristan Cole (Waynesburg, Pa.) of the Hunting Hills Hawkeyes in the Intermediate/Advanced Division with 177; Aaron Copelan (Eatonton, G.) of the Lake Oconee Shotgun Team in the Junior Varsity Division with 185; Dalton Kirchhoefer (Parker, Co.) of the Rocky Mountain Clay Busters in the Varsity Division with 195; and Clint Hinton (McKenzie, Tenn.) of the Bethel University in the Collegiate Division with 187.

Held July 9-16 at the Cardinal Shooting Center in Marengo, Ohio, nearly 2,200 athletes representing 28 states faced more than 961,000 clay targets during eight days of competition in the shooting disciplines of Trap, Skeet and Sporting Clays.

The Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) is a youth development program in which adult coaches and other volunteers use the shooting sports of Trap, Skeet and Sporting Clays, as well as the Olympic disciplines of Bunker Trap, Trap Doubles and International Skeet to teach and to demonstrate sportsmanship, responsibility, honesty, ethics, integrity, teamwork, and other positive life skills. Nationally, there are nearly 13,700 students and more than 2,900 coaches from 43 states participating in the Scholastic Clay Target Program.

The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc. (SSSF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the National Governing Body for the Scholastic Clay Target Program. SCTP was started by the National Shooting Sports Foundation in 2001.

For more information about SCTP and SSSF, visi www.sssfonline.org. You can also follow SCTP on Facebook a www.facebook.com/ShootSCTP or https://www.instagram.com/scholasticshootingsports/>@ScholasticShootingSports on Instagram.