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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Next year’s SCTP National Team will be selected at the 
