The dust has settled at Area 5 and everyone has headed home.  This is my first time shooting Area 5 and shooting in the area of Polo, Illinois.  I must say, it’s amazingly beautiful country and a great shooting range!  The match schedule spanned over Friday, Saturday and Sunday with squads electing to shoot a 2-day half-day schedule or one full-day schedule. 

Fortunately, we chose the Saturday morning/Sunday morning schedule and had the luck to shoot with a great group of guys.  With the complexity and length of these stages, I would not have wanted to shoot them all in one day.  Although, plenty did! 

Those of us who chose the Saturday morning schedule found ourselves shooting the first 3 stages in the rain.  The weather held off until Sunday morning again where we shot a few more of the stages in a steady drizzle, with the last shooter finishing 5 minutes before the downpour!  Now we have the answer to our question…..why weren’t there any visible irrigation methods for the thousands of acres of crops we saw in the area!

The Area 5 stages were some of the best stages I have ever seen in a match.  Every single stage had its challenge.  They were well thought out and allowed the shooter to make several decisions on stage sequencing and target acquisition.  We were presented with multiple swingers at times, very fast max traps, drop turners, a gravity swinger, Mozambique paper and steel setups, and a rack of triple swingers. 

I personally found Stage 8 with its hidden plates, difficult paper shots and the bear trap that activated a max trap and swinger the most difficult, especially when the targets were bagged.  But, I’m sure plenty of other competitors dealt with the same difficulty on a few of the other stages. 

Most targets had either hard cover or no-shoots on them with more than a fair share of poppers and plates, which made it an aiming match.  Aiming, thinking and lots of movement….all solid components of a good match that I believe truly test the ability of the shooter.  I would say awesome course design and kudos to Jim Thompson, Dale Hayen, Ray Hirst and the Tri-County Gun Club.    With this crew running Area 5 next year, we would definitely consider attending again.

Congratulations to all of the High Lady Champions:
Sarah Irish – Open
Jennifer VanZieleghem – Limited
Lori Casper – L-10
Sue Irish – Revolver
Carrie Carlson – Production
TD Roe – Single Stack
 

Sarah and I battled it out right to the end for High Open Lady, both having a rough start on the first day, plagued with penalty points.  Shooting some of those stages in good weather would have been difficult at best, and to shoot them in the rain was more challenging than ever! 

At the end, Sarah came out on top by 0.74 match points to take the win for Area 5 High Open Lady.  She shot a fantastic second day, kept her head straight and pulled through the challenges of the first day.  This is commendable to see in any shooter, but a junior shooter as well is even more impressive.  Nicely done Sarah and again CONGRATULATIONS!

Thanks to the RO’s at the match who kept long stages running on time with minimal if any waiting time.  They did a fantastic job!  Thanks also to Jim Thompson for his hospitality and his energy in running a great match.  Thanks to Joe Procopio, too.  He hand delivered our Tech-wear shirts for us to have for the match.  Thanks to Scott Carnahan and Safariland for their new ELS system, and thanks to my husband, Russell, for the support he offers both on and off the range.

Editor’s Note – Thank you, Eva, for taking the time to create the blog and for all of the great photos as well!  Sounds like you and Sarah had a good back-and-forth going, unknowingly from different squads.  Sorry to hear about the rain … looks like you all hung tough, regardless!

It was really nice to see women competing in all of the Divisions, too!  Congrats to all of you and thanks for representing!

Rebecca T. Jones is no stranger to the winner’s circle.  She’s a former USPSA Open National Champion and is always a top contender.  Rebecca was kind enough to write about her first major match of the season, the USPSA South Carolina Sectional.  Are you just starting up your match season?  Even a champ like Rebecca can feel a little rusty after a long break.  Read how she handled the pressure and what she focused on to claim yet another ladies title.

This was my third time shooting the South Carolina State match and the folks at Mid-Carolina Rifle Club delivered another great match. The stages were a blast. I had awesome squad mates and fantastic weather topped it off. Other than a couple of local club matches earlier this month, this was my first match back after last October’s USPSA and IPSC Nationals. Taking time off from shooting this winter was good for me, but I enjoyed getting behind my gun again now that the southeast has finally thawed. However, I found myself quite rusty at the SC State match! Little things did not “click” for me as they normally do – drawing, reloading, hitting my set-ups, etc.

This match had a little of everything and I learned a lot as the day went on. I noticed I had to really concentrate on my sights harder. Breaking down the stages also took me longer, but I suppose that also could have been because most of the stages at this match were trickier than they initially appeared! We had a good variety of close and far shots, difficult set-ups around props, partial targets, and shooting on the move. We even got to go prone – something I have not done at a major match in several years!

I got to shoot with Sarah Irish, who also shot Open. Sarah kept me on my toes with her athleticism and fast trigger finger! She won High Junior and was even 8th overall on a stage!

Even with being out of practice, I felt pretty good about my performance overall. A few too many points down and a little sluggish, but I managed to shoot 78% of Chris Tilley and came in 2nd in A class, which I was happy with. I shot with a great group of guys and girls, and enjoyed being in the company of my IPSC friends once again.

Thanks again for taking the time to write about the match, Rebecca. Even though you felt a little off your game, congratulations on winning yet another Ladies Open Title!  For all the ladies results, please visit Women of USPSA on Facebook.

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!

Sarah Irish is one talented young lady and definitely someone to keep your eye on in the future.  This junior shooter tore it up on the stages in Las Vegas at this year’s USPSA Open Nationals.   She even posted a stage win among an extremely talented field of women!  We took opportunity to ask Sarah how she got her start in the sport…

“My family has always done things together: from boating, to motorcycle riding, to horseback riding. But when my dad introduced me to shooting when I was 12 years old, I was hooked.

We spent that winter at the indoor range practicing on paper targets.  The indoor range offered pin shoots one night a week and after watching it awhile, Dad and I gave it a try. It was more challenging than paper, but it wasn’t long before I held the record for fastest time on a table of 5 pins at 15 yards – 1.96 seconds with my Ruger 10-22. Dad met a guy at the pin shoots who shoots USPSA matches and invited us to give it a try. At the end of October that year, Dad and I went to the match. That was the beginning of our latest family hobby: USPSA. Shooting as a family is a truly rewarding experience. Although my parents and I shoot in different divisions, we are continually learning things from each other to improve our shooting.

In 2009, we traveled to many matches. For me, this was a rewarding experience because I got to see the best shooters and learn their techniques. In September, I flew out to Las Vegas for the Open Nationals. It was my first nationals, so naturally I was a little bit nervous. However when I saw that I was squadded with some of the best female shooters, I became very excited. I realized how beneficial squadding with better shooters is at the awards ceremony for the match. When it was announced that I was high lady on a stage, I was truly surprised. As a junior shooter, I have all sorts of time constraints from school and extracurricular activities, but traveling to matches and shooting as a family are both definitely worth it.”

With the USPSA Handgun Nationals just a few days away, we’re recapping the top shooters of the year, based on the previously hosted USPSA Area Matches around the country.  Unfortunately, Area 2 & 4 aren’t scheduled until later in 2009, but we still have plenty of Area Champions to put upon our pedestal!  Congratulations to all of our Area Winners!

We are also sending well wishes and good luck to each and every woman who is headed to Las Vegas this week for our USPSA Back-To-Back National Championships! And remember, what happens in Vegas …  stays in Vegas!   (Except for what happens at the range.  We’ll proudly be posting updates and results for all categories of each match via Twitter, Facebook, WomenOfUSPSA.com & right here on the blog.)

If you ever get a chance to compete at one of these top-notch Area Matches, by the way, grab it! The experience, effort, creativity and organization that go into these events are practically unmatched!

2009 USPSA Area Match Championship Results – to date:

AREA 1 – Held June 18 through 21 in Parma, Idaho at the Parma Rod & Gun Club. Match Director – Tim Egan
LIMITED – Lisa Munson 1st, Christie King 2nd
LIMITED-10 – Dorrie Davis 1st
OPEN - Jenny Chu 1st,  Carrie Homburg 2nd
PRODUCTION – Carrie Jamrogowicz 1st, Irina Ionescu 2nd
SINGLE STACK – Laura Seurer 1st, Nancy Marrs 2nd

AREA 2 – Begins November 12, 2009 at  Rio Salado Sportsmans Club in Mesa, Arizona.  Match Directors – Paul Caudill & Bob LaMarca

AREA 3 – Held July 30 through August 2 in Omaha, Nebraska.  Hosted by the Eastern Nebraska Practical Shooters.  Match Director – Chris Davies
LIMITED – Nancy Huspek 1st, Gail McLean 2nd
OPEN - Sue VanBlaricum 1st, Bobbi Wagner 2nd
PRODUCTION – Carrie Jamrogowicz 1st, Lisa Johnson 2nd

AREA 4 – Begins October 8, 2009 at the Double Tap Ranch in Wichita Falls, Texas. Match Director – Ken Cobb

AREA 5 – Held June 19 through 21 at the South Kent Sportsmans Club in Dorr, Michigan.  Match Director – Carl Provan
LIMITED – Gail McLean 1st, Susan Powel 2nd
OPEN - Doni Spencer 1st, Sarah Irish 2nd
PRODUCTION – Carrie Carlson 1st
REVOLVER - Sue Irish 1st
SINGLE STACK -TD Roe 1st, Alma Lenard 2nd 

AREA 6 – Held April 17 through 19 at the South River Gun Club in Covington, Georgia.  Match Director – our very own Cindy Noyes!
LIMITED – Jessie Abbate 1st, Tracy Iradi 2nd
LIMITED-10 – Randi Rogers 1st, Kay Miculek 2nd
OPEN - Megan Francisco 1st, Kaci Cochran 2nd
PRODUCTION – Beth Wingfield 1st, Melita Ellington 2nd
REVOLVER -Sue Irish 1st
SINGLE STACK – Nancy Huspek 1st 

AREA 7 – Held August 5 through 9 in Fulton, New York at Pathfinder Fish & Game (which is Julie G’s original home-town range).  Match Director – Milford Lovett
LIMITED – Donna Major 1st, Kathie Sierpina 2nd
LIMITED-10 – Caron Brooks 1st, Evelyn Freeman 2nd
OPEN - Rebecca Jones 1st, Sheila Brey 2nd
REVOLVER -Sue Jenks 1st, Jacqueline Scott 2nd

AREA 8 – Held August 27 through 30 at the Fredericksburg Rod & Gun Club in historic Fredericksburg, Virginia. Match Director – Lew Walker
LIMITED – Jessie Abbate 1st, Tracy Iradi 2nd
LIMITED-10 – Caron Brooks 1st
OPEN - Rebecca Jones 1st, Megan Francisco 2nd
PRODUCTION -Randi Rogers 1st, Tori Nonaka 2nd
REVOLVER -Sue Irish 1st
SINGLE STACK – Tracy Deegan 1st

Well, that’s a wrap!  We’ll close our Road to the Nationals coverage by congratulating the 2008 USPSA Ladies Handgun National Champions:

• Open National Champion – Rebecca T. Jones
• Limited National Champion – Jessie Abbate
• Limited-10 National Champion – Jessie Abbate
• Single Stack National Champion – Lisa Munson
• Production National Champion – Randi Rogers
• Revolver National Champion – Annette Aysen