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Michigan State’s Shooting Club Cements Name As One The Best College Teams In Nation

Demmer Center
Jack Sznewajs

The Shooting Club, which trains out of MSU’s Demmer Shooting Center, was one of the few collegiate teams to reach the national rifle championship.

 

EAST LANSING, Mich. – In sports, the words “nationals” and “championships” instantly capture the attention of fans everywhere.

 

The NRA Intercollegiate Rifle Club Championships were held this at the end of March in Fort Benning, Ga. and Michigan State’s Shooting Club was among the few teams in the country to participate.

“Honestly it’s a big privilege to shoot a qualifying score to get down there,” said head rifle Coach Jim Stewart. “I was told by some of the reps down there that there’s about 130 competitive college club teams in the country, and less than 1% even qualify to shoot at these matches, so it’s a big deal to get down there.”

The club finished ninth overall and is quite happy with the results. The MSU Shooting Club finished in the top 10 for the fourth year in a row.

“As a team , we had six personal records that were shot which means they were peaking at the right time,” said Stewart. “Past years have been very similar. I think our highest ranking in the last four years is probably seventh so pretty similar but it’s nice to have the longevity of what our program is looking for.”

The team qualified in both standing air rifle and small bore and competed versus some of the top clubs in the country, including those from Grand Valley State and the University of Michigan.

“That’s our Super Bowl,” said Stewart. “Once you get down there you’re among the heavy hitters in the sport so it’s awesome to just be down there.”

While the focus of the club going in was to meet their goals both as a team and individually, the idea of having fun and enjoying their time away from school was not lost either.

Junior Chris Canu, both the rifle team captain and shooting club president, was happy with the team’s performance.

“It was really successful from the team aspect,” said Canu. “Besides shooting, it was such an enjoyment of a weekend. There was a bunch of bonding and getting to know each other as a team. It’s a different type of trip.”

By different, Canu means the success of the team was one of the priorities - but not the only one. Canu, and the rest of the club, set realistic goals for the tournament.

Demmer Center
Credit Jack Sznewajs

“There are other schools who can give scholarships for shooting, but as a club team we don’t have that and so we’re all about having fun,” said Canu. “It’s great as a college kid just to go and compete against a bunch of those top-level schools.”

The club is already looking towards next year and its possibilities, wanting to build on this season’s successes.

“We only had one senior (competing this year), so next year we’ll have more horsepower to compete and hopefully do better,” said Stewart. “A realistic goal for us is to finish somewhere in the top 5. We definitely have the talent now with what we saw this weekend.”

Canu added,  “Next year should be really great. I’m excited to see what other freshmen we can get on the team and move this year’s freshman into leadership positions next year. It’s certainly going to be a push to get everyone else down there.”

 

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