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Tag: AJ Nomina

SCTP National Team Members Sharpen Their Mental Game

In the pause between finishing their finals and finishing their Christmas shopping, members of the 2018/2019 SCTP National Team gathered at Fairfield Sportsmen’s Association in Cincinnati, Ohio to take advantage of an extraordinary opportunity to work with sport psychologist, Dr. Jason Selk. These International Trap and Skeet athletes alternated classroom time with live-fire training; in other words, learning, then applying, the fundamentals of Dr. Selk’s mental workout.

Dr. Jason Selk shares his mental workout with SCTP National Team members

“Our intent was to give these athletes the tools to develop a strong mental game before next year’s competition season begins. For most of them, that will be USA Shooting’s Spring Selection Match at the end of February,” shared Coach Terri DeWitt. “Jason Selk is a dynamic speaker and his mental workout program is rock solid. We’re extremely grateful that we were able to have him here. I’m really excited for these kids next year,” she smiled.

Assistant Coach Joe Buffa adds, “I really think Dr. Selk brings a different outlook on how to attain mental strength. He makes his students understand that they can train themselves to be mentally strong. I feel that if our shooting athletes implement his techniques, we will see their level of competition rise!”

Mental training camp – December 14/15, Cincinnati, OH

A little over 3000 trap and skeet targets were thrown over two days in spite of a persistent, bone-chilling rain on Saturday. But the weather was not enough to dampen the enthusiasm of these athletes. Skeet team member AJ Nomina was pragmatic, saying, “Training your shooting mechanically is always a must before the next match. Everyone needs practice. However, this was the first time I learned what I can do to prepare myself mentally before a match. The mental preparation aspect of this camp was what I’ve been looking for.”

Peter Meola, Trap team member, seemed to give voice to what everyone was feeling as the camp drew to a close on Saturday afternoon. “It was a great experience and I was happy to have the opportunity to participate in it,” he said.

Jay Bible, Josh Corbin, and AJ Nomina (left to right) training on the skeet range at Fairfield Sportsmen’s Association

The SCTP National Team will meet again in just two short weeks, this time in Gainesville, Florida in preparation for USA Shooting’s Spring Selection Match in Tucson, Arizona.

 

SCTP National Team Members Compete at USA Shooting Nationals

Packing guns and homework, ten members of the SCTP National Team made their way to Colorado Springs last week for USA Shooting’s 2018 National Championships. Meredith Bernau, Heather Broski, Emilio Carvalho, Monica Dale, Peter Meola, Jack Olsen, and Matt Wells were on the ground first for the International Trap championships. The weather was mostly cooperative, and the trap scores reflected accordingly.

Junior Trap Women medalists: Victoria Hendrix, Gold; Ryann Phillips, Silver; Heather Broski, Bronze (Photo courtesy of USA Shooting)

Heather Broski, finishing third in the Junior Women’s final, attained a spot on the U.S. National Junior Team and will now wear a National Junior team vest. “The intent of the SCTP National Team is to prepare these athletes to take the next step to the national level. Heather has done that. I’m very proud of her performance in this match,” declared head coach Terri DeWitt. Emilio Carvalho posted a solid performance as well, narrowly missing the Junior Men’s final by one target. He did, however, take home a silver medal in men’s Class A.

Junior Skeet Women medalists: Katie Jacob, Gold; Gracin Anderson, Silver; Karsyn Ross, Bronze (Photo courtesy of USA Shooting)

In what came as no surprise to Skeet competitors, the weather took a dramatic turn for the worse during the second half of the competition. Gracin Anderson, Erin Lokke, and AJ Nomina battled for four days through gusting winds, freezing rain, and falling snow. “Even though conditions were tough, we adapted and fought through challenges that were not normal. I learned a lot this week and plan to use this experience to train for future events,” pledged Lokke.

SCTP National Team member, Erin Lokke

In spite of the weather conditions, Gracin Anderson secured herself a National Junior Team vest with her silver medal finish in junior Women’s Skeet. AJ Nomina and Erin Lokke both took home Skeet medals as well – Nomina a bronze in men’s Class B and Lokke a silver in women’s Class B.

SCTP National Team Members Compete at Junior Olympic Nationals

Over 200 junior International Trap and Skeet athletes converged in Colorado Springs June 21-29 for the 2018 USA Shooting Junior Olympic National Championships.  Of those 200 young athletes, nine were wearing SCTP National Team vests: Maddy Bernau, Heather Broski, Jack Brosseau, Trevor Evelhair, AJ Nomina, Molly Sheehan, Mark Shields, Madeleine Taylor, and Tyler Theide (Cole Barrett withdrew from Men’s Skeet due to illness).

After a week of capricious Colorado weather that included extreme heat, strong winds, lightning, and hail, four SCTP National Team members will be trading their SCTP vests for a USA Shooting Junior Team or Junior Squad vest.  Consistent with the mission of the SCTP National Team program as a pipeline for USA Shooting’s upcoming junior talent Bernau, Brosseau, and Shields have graduated to the major leagues.  Bernau and Brosseau both fought their way to silver medals in Women’s and Men’s Trap, respectively.  Their second-place finish places them on USA Shooting’s Junior National Team. Mark Shields, with his fourth-place finish in Men’s Skeet, will be added to USA Shooting’s Junior Squad. Heather Broski also made the Women’s Trap final, taking home the gold medal in the J2 age category (age 15-17). In addition, Broski and teammate Jeff Holguin (U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit) finished 5th out of 21 teams in USA Shooting’s first Mixed Team Trap Selection Match.

“All of the SCTP National Team members performed extremely well this week.  They displayed great resilience and determination in spite of less than optimum weather conditions.  Assistant Skeet Coach Joe Buffa and I could not be prouder of these athletes.  All of them represented our program with integrity and professionalism and I look forward to working with next year’s athletes,” remarked Head Coach Terri DeWitt.

Next year’s SCTP National Team will be selected at the SCTP International National Championships in Colorado Springs, July 22-27.

Photos courtesy USA Shooting

SCTP National Team Trains in Colorado

The first weekend in May, four of the SCTP’s National Team members – AJ Nomina, Mark Shields, Madeleine Taylor, and Tyler Thiede – met coaches Terri DeWitt and Joe Buffa in Colorado Springs for the third National Team training camp this year.  This camp was intended to coincide with the Colorado State Junior Olympic (JO) Championships in order to offer National Team members an opportunity to compete in a training match.

Not only was this particular camp an opportunity to train on the home range of USA Shooting’s National JO Championships as well as the SCTP’s International National Championships, it gave National Team members a chance to test their training under true match conditions. Coach DeWitt explains, “You can never quite replicate match pressure in a training environment, which is what makes ‘practice’ matches like these so valuable.”

The results speak for themselves. All four SCTP National Team athletes made the finals in their respective events and two of them came away with medals; AJ Nomina took home a Bronze medal in Skeet and Tyler Theide battled his way to the Silver medal in Trap.

National Team (NT) athletes earned their spot via participation and placement in the 2017 Scholastic Clay Target Program International Championships held July 23-29, 2017.

2018 national team members receive ongoing coaching in the international shooting disciplines, a USA Shooting jacket, paid fall selection match fees and ammo, along with an SCTP National Team vest, five cases of NobelSport Quattro Finest International ammunition and more!

The 2019 National Team will be selected based on scores from the 2018 Scholastic Clay Target Program International Championships to be conducted July 22-27 in Colorado Springs.

SCTP National Team Trains in Tucson

Members of the SCTP National Team gathered in Tucson, AZ last month just prior to the USA Shooting Spring Selection Match for some fine-tuning before the competition.  Head Coach Terri DeWitt and Assistant Coach Joe Buffa worked with team members making minor adjustments where needed but mostly providing some major encouragement. “The days just prior to a competition is not the time to be making big changes,” stated Coach Terri, “Joe and I were there to put some polish on their performance. And that’s all they needed – these athletes were ready to perform.”

And perform they did. Congratulations go to AJ Nomina, Madelynn Bernau, and Heather Broski for finishing top six in their respective Junior categories and earning the chance to compete in those finals.  When all was said and done, Maddy not only captured the Junior Women’s silver medal but secured her place on the 2018 World Championship Team going to Changwon, Korea later this summer.

“I would also like to thank Coach Tom Slaughter for bringing some of the Arizona Outdoor Sports, Inc. athletes to train with us.  We really enjoyed having them and we look forward to seeing those young athletes on a future SCTP National Team,” said Coach Terri.

National Team (NT) athletes earned their spot via participation and placement in the 2017 Scholastic Clay Target Program International Championships held July 23-29, 2017.

2018 national team members receive ongoing coaching in the international shooting disciplines, a USA Shooting jacket, paid fall selection match fees and ammo, along with an SCTP National Team vest, five cases of NobelSport Quattro Finest International ammunition and more!

The 2019 National Team will be selected based on scores from the 2018 Scholastic Clay Target Program International Championships to be conducted July 22-27 in Colorado Springs.

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