Two Colorado DU Green Wings are going to the Junior Olympics

On July 13, the Colorado State Junior Olympic Qualification Tournament for International Skeet was held at Tri Service Sportsman’s Club at Buckley Air Force Base, Aurora, Colorado. Two of the shooters, Tyler Mitsch and Cory Pinney serve as the Green Wing Coordinators for the Aurora, Colorado Chapter of Ducks Unlimited. The third shooter on their squad was Michael Cates. All three are part of the Golden Eagles SCTP (Scholastic Clay Target Program) youth skeet team, based at the Golden Gun Club, Watkins, Colorado.

This tournament was shot using the International Skeet method (low gun) and international skeet rules, exactly as you would see in the Olympics. The Golden Eagles squad took top honors, beating out two other Colorado teams. Amazing scores were turned in by these shooters; Tyler a 105, Cory a 97, and Michael a 93 out of a possible 125. Tyler’s and Cory’s scores garnered them second and third place individual honors for the tournament. For this, they received Silver and Bronze medals respectively.

Since they won their state qualifier, these shooters are now eligible to participate in the Junior Olympic International Skeet Tournament in Colorado Springs August 26 – 28. This is an invitation only event, hosted by USA Shooting, the governing body for Olympic shooting sports. In last year’s Junior Olympics, only 32 shooters from around the country were invited in skeet. Even if the squad would not have won, these scores alone are above the threshold for automatic invitation. Only four shooters in the tournament scored above that mark, 90 out of 125.

Best of luck to the two Colorado DU Green Wings and their teammate, Michael.

To find out more about SCTP (the Little League of shooting) go to www.nssf.com/sctp. For more information about Olympic shooting sports, go to www.usashooting.com.

Alternately