EL MONTE, California-Young skeet shooters from across California earned state titles-with many qualifying to represent California at upcoming national championships-at the recent Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) California Skeet State Championship.

The skeet competition, held July 3 at Triple B Clays Shotgun Sports Park in El Monte, featured some of California's top young shooters in four divisions: varsity, junior varsity, intermediate advanced and intermediate entry.

SCTP, for youths in grades 12 and under, is a program of the National Shooting Sports Foundation managed in partnership with the national governing bodies for shooting sports: USA Shooting, Amateur Trapshooting Association, National Skeet Shooting Association and National Sporting Clays Association.

With remarkable growth over the past eight years, the program is considered "the Little League of shooting sports." Some 8,000 to 9,000 students from over 45 states are expected to compete this year.

California teams participating in the state title shoot qualified for the SCTP National Championships July 31-Aug. 5 at the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta, Ill.

The best of these young shooters could be selected to attend an Olympic development camp in Colorado Springs, and some will go on to compete at the collegiate level.

For more information, visit http://www.nssf.org/sctp>www.nssf.org/sctp http://www.nssf.org/sctp>www.nssf.org/sctp .

RESULTS

SCTP California Skeet State Championship
(held July 3, Triple B Clays Shotgun Sports Park, El Monte, Calif.)

Varsity Division (grades 9-12)
1st Place-Kern County Ink Ballers Blue, 564 out of 600 targets (Elizabeth Key of Bakersfield, Richard Riddle of Bonsall, Jarrod Summut of Salinas).
2nd Place-Kern County Ink Ballers Red, 561 (Brian Foley of Bakersfield, Cole Rommel of Clovis, Emily Shuford of Bakersfield).
3rd Place-Not awarded.

Junior Varsity Division (grades 9-12)
1st Place-Kern County Sharpshooters Blue, 547 out of 600 targets (Parker Downs of Browns Valley, Brooke Shuford of Bakersfield, Logan Brinkley of Apple Valley).
2nd Place-Not awarded.
3rd Place-Not awarded.

Intermediate Advanced Division (grades 6-8)
1st Place-Stockton Crushers, 522 out of 600 targets (Brandon Belanger of Stockton, Arjun Hundal of Stockton, Chandler Peay of Seaside).
2nd Place-Not awarded.
3rd Place-Not awarded.

Intermediate Entry Division (grades 6-8)
1st Place-San Diego Claybreakers Blue, 347 out of 600 targets (Nicholas James of Escondido, Scott Jacobson of San Diego, Diana Riddle of Bonsall).
2nd Place-Not awarded.
3rd Place-Not awarded.

Media Contact:
Mike Borg, SCTP California State Skeet Director, at (831) 229-4872 or mile@redshift.net