Shooting Wire

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The junior varsity squad from Georgia's Lake Oconee Shotgun Team claimed their second national title with their winning performance in Sporting Clays during competition at the 2017 Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) National Team Championships.

Lake Oconee dominated the Junior Varsity Division combining to break 490 total targets. Baylor Garland of Eatonton led the team with 175 followed by Riley Downs of Mitchell with 171 and Hagen Young of McIntyre with 144. Earlier in the match this same squad claimed the JV title in Doubles Skeet

Held July 8-15 at the Cardinal Shooting Center in Marengo, Ohio, more than 2,300 athletes representing 29 states faced over one million clay targets during eight days of competition in the shooting disciplines of Trap, Skeet and Sporting Clays.

Second place in the division went to the Central Georgia Elite Shooters of Georgia with 472 broken targets. The trio of Macon residents were led by Tate Skipper with 169. Bryce Daniel added another 162 followed by Bo Crook with 141.

The Forest City Juniors, also of Georgia, finished with 463. Walker McDonald led the squad with 164 followed by Jake Summerford with 150 and Kline Barfield with 149. All three shooters are from Savannah.

The only non-Georgia team to finish in the top five, The King's Academy Lions of South Carolina, combined to break 453 targets. Daylon Mahn of Darlington was the squad's top shooter with 155. Hughes Milling and Carter Parrott, both of Florence, added 149 each.

Rounding out the top five was a second squad from Central Georgia Elite Shooters. Bryce Floyd of Forsyth (159), William Frank of Macon (146) and Drake Byrd of Lizella (134) combined for 439.

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 14,800 students and more than 3,300 adult volunteers across 45 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, visit www.sssfonline.org. You can also follow SCTP on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ShootSCTP or @ScholasticShootingSports on Instagram.