WHO IS YOUR PICK TO WIN?

VOTE NOW!

 
VOTE OFTEN!

Click on any of the above links to vote!

Thanks for participating!

Women of USPSA Correspondent from overseas, Yael Dagan tells us about a first in Israel – STEEL CHALLENGE!

Usually in Israel, now is the time to lay back, take a break, because after all, it’s the end of the season here. This year is turning out to be a year of different experiences here, as for the first time in Israel we held a Steel Challenge!! For those of you who are less familiar with regulation here, it is forbidden to shoot on metal targets that are closer than 15 meters in Israel. Don’t ask me why, we just know it’s a given fact. So how do you hold a Steel Challenge with that restriction?? Leave it for the very talented people of the Shoham shooting club, who got special approval and directions on how to increase the size of targets in the right proportion to the increase of distance.

Our Steel Challenge included of 5 stages, and more than 80 shooters, in this very different atmosphere of shooting. The mix of squads gave me a great chance to shoot with some talented speed shooters in Israel, among them Eliran Malki and Evgeny Monasirsky, 3rd and 2nd place Standard winners from the Israel Nationals. The competition also showed a good number of women shooters, including 2 new shooters and some “retired” shooters, who have hopefully decided to get back to shooting. The highlight of the competition was, in fact, the BBQ that waited for us at the end of shooting. Surely a great way to end a long shooting day!

And the results? My very talented friend and SVI Israel teammate, Evgeny Monasirsky nailed the 1st place in Standard, while I ranked as the Top Lady and 5th overall in Open, only 3 seconds behind 4th place. Who knows? Maybe Steel Challenge is becoming a league here as well!

Thanks so much for telling us about the match, Yael.  Congratulations on yet ANOTHER ladies title!

Randi Rogers concludes her daily coverage of the Smith & Wesson US Steel Shoot National Championships…

Good Evening Ladies! Today is the third and final day of the US Steel Shoot. The last shot has been fired and our goodbyes have been said and nothing is left but preparing for next year.

The ladies shot awesome today! On our squad we had Jessie Abbate, Kay Miculek, Sarah Irish, and myself shooting Open sighted firearms. We also had Tori Nonaka shooting Limited. It started out a little rough, but by the end everyone had completed an excellent day of shooting.

To see the final scores please visit http://www.ussteelshoot.com/2007MatchInfo.htm. My unofficial memory, as flawed as it may be is; Jessie Abbate came in High Lady and Lady Steel Master. Kay Miculek came in second Lady. I was able to capture third lady and second overall in production.

Unfortunately, there weren’t enough ladies to complete all the categories so the lady scores were lumped together. Hopefully, next year we will have enough ladies to recognize each category.

In the juniors categories we had lots of winners. Tori Nonaka won the Super Junior category, which is 16 and below, and Ashley Bolda came in second. James McGinty won Junior Open centerfire and Junior Limited centerfire, Sonny Morton was second junior Open and Limited, and Cody Tucker was third Junior Open and Limited. Sarah Irish was fourth Junior Open and Junior Limited. It was such a pleasure to see all of these talented young people learning and growing our sport. I hope to see many more in the future.

There were also many juniors that competed in the rimfire categories.

Again I would like to thank all the match staff and I look forward to seeing everyone back next year. Until next time. Shoot Straight Everyone!

Thanks again, Randi and congratulations to all the winners!  Check out the Women of USPSA Facebook page for more results posted later this week.

Randi recaps Day Two…

Good Evening Ladies. Day two of the S&W US Steel Nationals is in the books. Today was another beautiful day. High 70 temperatures and sunshine all day. It was a great day for shooting.

During day two of most Steel Challenge matches is reserved for iron sighted firearms. Competitors competed in Limited, Production, IDPA classes, and revolver classes. Some competitors also shot their open sighted firearms if they were sharing guns or had other scheduling issues.

There were many ladies out on the range today. In the Limited Category Jessie Abbate and Sarah Irish were battling it out. Sarah who is only 17 years old was also competing for the juniors title. For Production there was myself and Tori Nonaka, also a junior shooter. Shooting Open, Ashley Bolda a junior, fought hard battling her way through a migraine. There were also a couple of ladies from Jamaica!

The shooting started out a little rough with our squad on Smoke N’ Hope, but smoothed out quickly. Jessie Abbate gave us all a show by completing four smoking runs on Speed Option. Tori Nonaka was holding her own by shooting three excellent runs on Outer Limits! I enjoyed shooting Showdown, and Sarah had some excellent runs on Roundabout. Ashely’s best stage of the day was her last, Five to Go, she really hunkered down and shot great.

All the ladies shot well and they look forward to shooting again tomorrow. The last day will be for the open sighted firearms. We are all looking forward to a good day and a strong finish. Keep your fingers crossed, the weathermen are predicting rain, but hopefully it will hold off until afternoon.

There were also several junior boys. Trevor Koenig, who I believe is only 11, was shooting on the men’s super squad with his open gun. Sonny Morton shot his limited gun today, and Cody Tucker brought out his Open gun today as well. It is great to see so many young people out there!

Tomorrow I will have the final results and be sure and let you know who all wins what.

We look forward to hearing the results, Randi. Best of luck to all competitors on the final day!

Continuing coverage of the Smith & Wesson US Steel Shoot National Championships with Randi Rogers…

Hello Ladies! Today is Friday March 26th, 2010 and the first day of the US Steel Nationals is in the history books. The day dawned beautifully with a few clouds and a comfortable temperature perfect for shooting. There was rain Thursday night, but everything cleared up by this morning. A few spectators braved the mud, there were several media representatives and a baby alligator even made an appearance, but stayed safely in his pond.

In steel challenge competitions, competitors have the option of shooting the match multiple times with different firearms. Most competitors choose to shoot a rimfire category, an iron sight centerfire category, and an open sighted centerfire category. This will allow them to compete for the title of “Steel Master”. The first day of most steel challenge competitions is reserved for the rimfire categories.

There are several different rimfire categories. There are iron sight .22, open sight .22, iron sight .22 revolver, and open sight .22 revolver. During competition today I saw many different kinds of rimfire firearms. There were Brownings, Smith & Wesson 41’s, conversion kits for 1911’s, conversion kits for SigSauers, and revolvers too. Not only that, but several companies, such as Tactical Solutions, sell aftermarket barrels. The possibilities are almost limitless.

Just like any shooting match the shooting was top quality and the competition was fierce. Several ladies competitor participated in the open rimfire category. I saw several ladies shooting for the Open rimfire category. On my squad there was myself, Jessie Abbate, and Kay Miculek. That is not even including the juniors.

Our squad started on Smoke N’ Hope and ended on Five to Go. We were able to shoot through lunch and finished about two o’clock. The day started out with everyone trying hard and working to do their best. The most difficult part of the rimfire event is that rimfire firearms are prone to malfunctions. For the most part everyone had a good day and the firearms and ammunition worked well. Kay Miculek shot an excellent score on the stage Showdown and Jessie Abbate shot the most amazing Roundabout I have ever seen. I think that my favorite stage today was Outer Limits. I shot three good runs right from the get go and got to play on the fourth! Scores were not posted when I left the range this afternoon but from what I have heard the unofficial winner was Jessie Abbate! Way to go girl.

However, the tightest competition I saw was in the Junior Girls Open rimfire. On my squad along there were three very beautiful and talented young ladies; Tori Nonaka, Ashley Bolda, and Sarah Irish. Each girl shot great! Ashley and Sarah were both shooting guns with Tactical Solutions barrels and accessories beautifully with their pink and red guns. Tori was shooting an S&W 41 with a Bully barrel. The competition was fierce, and I will let everyone know who won as soon as the scores come out.

There was also plenty of competition in the Junior boys categories as well. I saw three excellent juniors at the shooter’s meeting. Cody Tucker, Sonny Morton, and Trevor Koenig were all there preparing to take on the world. From what I saw today the future of our sport is in good hands.

Congratulations to all those who competed in the rimfire event. Tomorrow will start the centerfire events for most competitors. For those shooting an iron sighted centerfire and an open sighted centerfire the iron sights will compete tomorrow. This will include Limited, Production, the IDPA categories, and the iron sighted revolvers as well. The range was open for practice after the match and I saw several great competitors sharpening their iron sight skills. I look forward the shooting tomorrow is promises to be great.

Finally, a BIG thank you to all the match staff, especially Derek Janowicz and Mike Calloway. We couldn’t compete without your help and support and we are all very grateful.

Stay tuned for more from Randi as she continues to cover the match for Women of USPSA!

We couldn’t be more excited to have a day-by-day account of the Smith & Wesson US Steel Shoot National Championships through the eyes of the talented Randi Rogers.  Not only is Randi vying for four titles (Open, Production, Open Rimfire and Steel Master) she has also graciously offered to keep us posted on the latest from the match.  Thanks, Randi!!!

Here’s her first update:

Hello Ladies! Today is Thursday March 25, 2010 and competitors are gathering in sunny Titusville, FL for the US Steel Nationals for some fast paced competition.

The Smith & Wesson US Steel Nationals is the national competition for the Steel Challenge Shooting Association. For those who aren’t familiar with Steel Challenge, each of the eight stages consists of 5 steel targets of different sizes and distances. Each stage has a “stop” plate that must be shot last. Seven of the eight stages are shot five times with the competitors lowest four times being kept for score. The final stage is shot four times with the competitors fastest three times kept for score. A miss is worth three seconds, and the fastest time wins the match. Final round count for the match is a minimum of 185 rounds.

If you have never shot any Steel Challenge matches it is a great sport to look into. There is nothing more satisfying than hearing the ding of the steel plate after you hit it. It is also an easy sport to get into because you can compete with a rimfire handgun. This also makes it great for juniors of all ages.

The regular match starts tomorrow with most competitors shooting the rimfire event. There are four rimfire categories; iron sight .22, open sight .22, iron sight revolver .22 and open sight revolver .22. Today there were several competitors out on the range practicing and working out last minute bugs. So far the ladies I have seen are Jessie Abbate, Tori Nonaka, Ashley Bolda, and Kay Miculek. It looks like competition is going to be fierce this year!

Tomorrow I will be shooting the Open Sight .22 category. Wish me luck and stay tuned for more info!

Thanks, Randi! Good luck is on its way and best wishes to all the competitors in the match.

The 2009 Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Championships in Piru, CA is the last major event in our coverage of the Road to the Nationals.  Held August 13-16, the best steel shooters in the world hit the range to compete in the eight challenge Steel Challenge courses of fire.  Check out our coverage of the S&W US Steel Shoot Nationals for more info about the courses of fire and crowned national champions.

There were several new faces from USPSA at the match this year.  Junior Shooter Tori Nonaka made her Steel Challenge debut in Production and Rimfire divisions.  Tori is definitely one to watch out for in the future!  Also new to competing at The Challenge this year was Tasha Hanish.  Tasha burst onto the USPSA scene as a junior over a decade ago.  Always a top contender, she took several years off to start a family. Jumping back on the competition circuit full time this season, she has a new sponsor, blog and outlook on competing. Welcome back Tasha!

We were sad to see that two of the best lady open shooters in the world, Athena Lee and Rebecca T. Jones were not able to make it to this year’s Challenge.  Athena is no stranger to the winner’s circle at Steel Challenge, winning in 2002 & 2003.  She is also a two-time winner of the coveted IPSC Ladies World Title.  Rebecca is a real contender in Steel Challenge as well and has placed in the top 5 at both the Steel Challenge and the S&W US Steel Nationals. She is also the reigning 2008 USPSA Open Ladies National Champion.  We missed both their amazing skills and charming personalities on the range this year.  We hope to see you next year!

What should you know about this year’s Steel Challenge?
Well, simply the women were power houses! Jessie Abbate was brilliant.  She dominated in every division she competed in – Open, Limited, Rimfire and Steel Master.  To say she won Top Lady is just the tip of the iceberg.  We felt Jessie’s performance was so amazing that only she could put it into words and jumped at the opportunity to interview Jessie.

Women of USPSA: First of all, CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Jessie: Aw, thanks!

Women of USPSA: So, in all how many world records did you shatter at this year’s Steel Challenge?

Jessie: In all I think it was 21.  Let’s see… 5 Open Stage Records, records on stages and overall in both Rimfire and Limited and then the overall Ladies Open Record.

Women of USPSA: Winning the S&W US Steel Nationals earlier this year, did you do anything different to prepare for Steel Challenge?

Jessie: I did.  I changed my training approach.  One thing I focused on was being able to shoot a match cold.  I practiced shooting the full match and that really gave me an idea of what I could do.

Women of USPSA: Did you ever imagine you would do so well at the Steel Challenge?

Jessie: As a shooter, we all hope to win and win big.  So yes, I hoped to, but I never dreamed it.  I have broken the 90 second barrier in practice, but that’s practice.  To break 100 seconds in the match was something I felt I could do and was a good goal.

Women of USPSA: 100 seconds is a great feat! That also explains why you were moved to tears on the range after learning you broke 95 seconds.

Jessie: I couldn’t believe it at first.  I knew I shot well, but to do that.  It’s something that will always stay with me.

Women of USPSA: How do you feel heading into the USPSA Nationals after such a phenomenal performance?

Jessie: Well I am jacked about winning Steel Challenge, but I am careful not to get overconfident.  You can’t take anything for granted.  Steel Challenge is stand and shoot match.  In USPSA you have so many factors.  I shot a good match at Area 8 as a warm up and it gave me some great feedback on what to work on.

We’d like to thank Jessie for taking the time to talk with us. Jessie’s performance at the Steel Challenge was an out-of-the-ballpark homerun!  She not only broke women’s world records, she placed a phenomenal 18th Overall in the combined match results.

Here are the results for the Top 3 Women in Open, Limited, Rimfire & Steel Master:

Open:

1. Jessie Abbate – 94.94  (14th Place Open)
2. Kay Miculek – 104.14
3. Julie Golob – 106.87

Limited:

1. Jessie Abbate – 104.79 (9th Overall)
2. Kay Miculek – 122.19
3. Tasha Hanish – 141.66

Rimfire:

1. Jessie Abbate – 77.95 (6th Overall)
2. Kay Miculek – 82.93 (8th Overall)
3. Tori Nonaka – 90.93 (High Junior)

Steel Master:

1. Jessie Abbate
2. Kay Miculek
3. Randi Rogers

New to The Challenge this year was USPSA Production Division featuring production legal guns, holsters and 10 round capacity.  Julie Golob also had a great performance posting impressive scores that would have placed her 2nd Woman in the faster Limited Division. She won the Ladies Production World Title and finished with a total time of 116.61, 2nd Place Overall behind the sport’s legendary Rob Leatham.

Top 3 Women in Production:

1. Julie Golob – 116.61 (2nd Overall)
2. Randi Rogers – 127.90 (3rd Overall)
3. Tori Nonaka – 132.59 (6th Overall)

In Revolver, Molly Smith and IRC champion Annette Aysen faced off in Iron Sight Revolver.  Molly placed 8th Overall with a 142.76 that was enough to win over Annette’s 12th Overall finish and 149.05 seconds.  Janet Leach earned the win in Optical Revolver with 164.40 over fellow competitor Krista Terry.

We’d also like to congratulate Janae Sarabia for winning Pre-Teen Junior Female in Open Division and Molly Smith in Pre-Teen Junior Female in Rimfire.  These young ladies are an inspiration to junior shooters everywhere!

What happens when you combine Steel Challenge, Bianchi and USPSA?  PRO AM!  The Pro Am, hosted by the US Shooting Academy in Tulsa, OK, is an all steel event.   Shooters face arrays of steel targets in run-n-gun stages with predetermined “par” times.  The number of steel shot down on the stage after the end buzzer sounds = the competitor’s score.  Unique to this event, the Pro’s are those shooters who have finished in the Top 10 Overall of any USPSA Open/Limited/Production Nationals in the last three years. Everyone else is classified as an Amateur and is ranked based on classifications in the various action shooting sports.

Ten women competed in the Amateur Limited Division (with some big names in attendance)…

• Reigning USPSA Ladies Limited & Limited-10 National Champion – Jessie Abbate
• 2004 USPSA Ladies Limited National Champion – Carina Randolph
• First and Only USPSA Five Division Ladies National Champion – Julie Golob

In a field of 160 amateur competitors, Jessie had an impressive performance.  She finished 6th Overall and 2nd A Class easily claiming the Ladies Limited Title as well.  Julie Golob earned 2nd Woman and finished in the Top 20 Overall.

Rounding out the Top 5 Ladies:

1. Jessie Abbate – 179 Plates
2. Julie Golob – 167 Plates
3. Carina Randolph – 153 Plates
4. Diana Leidorff – 147 Plates
5. Tammy Sharp – 131 Plates

Traditionally an iron sight only match, this year competitors were allowed to compete with their open guns.  76 Amateurs, 4 of these women, competed in the Open Division.  Julie Golob opted to shoot her Limited gun again and placed an impressive 26th overall against open blasters.  She also finished 2nd behind Open Ladies Champion Jessie Abbate.  Jessie was not only top lady, but also placed 1st in A Class and finished a stellar 3rd Overall!  With this double win, Jessie confirmed that when it comes to shooting steel, she is not only a dominating force in the women’s category, but is a top contender against the men.

As we countdown the days to the USPSA Handgun Nationals, we’d like to recap some of this year’s major championships starting with the first event of the season, the Smith & Wesson US Steel Shoot National Championships. Did you know that the Steel Challenge is now part of USPSA? Known as the fastest of the action shooting sports, there are eight challenging courses of fire at the Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Championships.  In addition to the opportunity to win a world title, you can also shoot the S&W Steel Shoot Regional Series and US Steel Nationals.

There are just five steel plates in each Steel Challenge course of fire.  Competitors shoot each of the stages five times.  The best four  out of five scores are kept with the exception of the stage Outer Limits.  This stage is the only one with movement and competitors shoot Outer Limits four times with their top three runs kept for score.

In March, some of the best steel shooters in the country traveled to sunny Titusville, Florida for their chance to claim a national title.  The event started out with the Rimfire match.  Arguably the two best female steel shooters in the world, Jessie Abbate and Kay Miculek faced off with their .22 caliber pistols in the first of the three events.  Jessie posted impressive scores with a total time of 81.67 seconds earning her a 7th place finish overall in Rimfire Optic.  Kay was not far behind, placing 11th overall with a total time of 86.31.  Though she was the only woman to compete in Rimfire Iron, Randi Rogers shot impressive scores to earn her a top ten finish. With a total time of 104.04 seconds, Randi placed 8th overall in Rimfire Iron.

Day two, the women hit the range in the iron sight divisions.  Once again Jessie and Kay battled to earn the Limited Ladies National Title.  Jessie continued to put up top scores and posted a decisive lead over Kay by 21.45 seconds.  Jessie’s final time was 117.72 earning her 12th place in Limited.  Kay finished 24th and second lady with 139.17.  Randi continued to represent the women proudly in the Production division where she once again placed 8th overall with a total time of 131.50.

The final day, the women competed in Open. Known primarily as a stock gun shooter, Randi holstered up a race gun and finished 3rd Lady with a score of 134.06. Kay shot a 113.07, enough to earn her second place.  The winning streak in full momentum, Jessie finished at the top once again with a score of 103.03 and 12th overall.  Jessie’s domination in all three events earned her the 2009 Ladies Steel Master National Title.

Junior ladies also made a great showing in match.  Lena Miculek, daughter of shooting legends Jerry and Kay Miculek, earned top honors in Junior Female in both Rimfire Optic and Open. Ashley Bolda placed second behind her in both divisions.  Ashley also wrote about her match experience for Junior Shooter Magazine.  Alysa Janowicz was the High Junior Female in Rimfire Iron.

Check out the live streaming coverage from this year’s US Steel Shoot Nationals by our very own Sharyn Cohen. Congratulations to the winners and all the ladies competing in the event!  For more information about the Steel Challenge please visit steelchallenge.com.  For dates and details for the 2010 US Steel Shoot National Championships and Regional Series, visit ussteelshoot.com.