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Junior World Championship Team Members Luke Priestly, 14, and Jordan Sapp, 17, Hone Their Skills at USA Shooting Junior Olympic Shooting Camp 2021
Posted by Junior Shooters
By: Emily Stack Davis (reprinted from Volume 44 Junior Shooters Fall 2021.)
Jordan Sapp, 17, from Phoenix, AZ, and Luke Priestly, 14, from Corpus Christi, TX, are two of the many junior shooters who attended Hillsdale College for its USA Shooting’s Junior Olympic Development Camp this June. Jordan and Luke are also on the Junior World Championship Team for USA Shooting and spent their week at Hillsdale honing their skills in preparation for the Junior Olympic National Skeet Championship, which took place from June 29 to July 2.
“I’m really happy with how I’m shooting right now,” said Luke, who has been shooting for five years and attended the Hillsdale camp with hopes to improve his mechanical and mental game. “The coaches here made the game a whole lot smoother and in control for me. Frank Thompson said something about my mount, and I listened to his advice, and it really helped make the game more in control, and also slowed it down a whole lot.”
Luke said he plans to use what he’s learned at camp in the championships and in higher-pressure situations like the World Cup competitions in Peru and Kazakhstan, which both boys will attend later this year.
“It will be our first time out of the country,” Jordan said. “I’ve heard the ranges there are really nice.”
On Hillsdale’s campus, the boys stayed in Whitley Residence and enjoyed campus life.
“The college itself is really nice,” Jordan said. “The food is really good, and going out and not being in 120-degree weather is much nicer. I love the green background.”
Back home in Arizona, Jordan said he shoots targets against a backdrop of mountains, which can make seeing the target a little more challenging. During camp, there were scattered clouds, which also made following targets a bit more difficult. “They go in and out of the clouds, so it’s hard to pick up on them,” he said. “That made it more fun because it was more challenging, and because I’ve never shot in that kind of weather.”
The Halter Center is known for being the best training facility in the country in part because of the altitude and lush backdrop, which makes targets easier to see. The Center also has lights and visible scoreboards.
Although both boys attended the camp to improve their skeet game, which Jordan said provides good training for every shooting event, they also mentioned the camaraderie in the junior shooting world and the positivity of the opportunity at camp to shoot with those who are first learning alongside others they see across the country at shooting events.
“They occasionally put us in mixed-level squadding,” Jordan said. “It’s fun to see others who are just starting go through the same journey I did and get better at it.” Luke agreed.
Both the camps and the championship took place at the John A. Halter Shooting Sports Education Center a few miles from Hillsdale College. Campers stayed in campus housing, ate at the College cafeteria, and took a class on the Second Amendment with history professor David Rainey in addition to training.
“Every young adult should be exposed to education about our Second Amendment rights,” Jordan said. “The highlight of the class was that we were able to ask many questions, and Professor Rainey was so kind to answer every single one in full detail.”
The Halter Center has been home to USA Shooting since 2019, with Olympic shooters training on the Center’s new Olympic bunker trap installations in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics.
Dates for USA Shooting’s 2022 shooting camps at the Halter Center are forthcoming.
Find photos of Jordan and Luke here.
About the John Anthony Halter Shooting Sports Education Center
The John Anthony Halter Shooting Sports Education Center is a 113-acre state-of-the-art shooting facility located five miles from the Hillsdale College campus. Opened in 2008, the Center aims to introduce individuals to shooting sports and encourage interest across all levels of experience. To conduct its recreational mission, the Center features ranges for small arms, archery, and shotgun, including Michigan’s only international bunker trap. The Halter Center also serves an educational purpose by promoting the principles of the Constitution and
teaching beginner and experienced shooters in various classes. Home to Hillsdale College’s collegiate shooting teams, the Halter Center is also a resource for the public through camps, conferences, and other programming. For more information, visit shootingsportshillsdale.edu.
About Hillsdale College
Hillsdale College is an independent liberal arts college located in southern Michigan. Founded in 1844, the College has built a national reputation through its classical liberal arts core curriculum and its principled refusal to accept federal or state taxpayer subsidies, even indirectly in the form of student grants or loans. It also conducts an outreach effort promoting civil and religious liberty, including a free monthly speech digest, Imprimis, with a circulation of more than 5.7 million. For more information, visit hillsdale.edu.
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