The Upper Iowa shotgun sports team, along with three other DII teams, traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada this past week to compete in the NCSSAA National Championships. Fort Hays State University, Drury University, and the University of Central Missouri joined UIU at Clark County Shooting Complex to shoot targets in six different disciplines over the course of four days.
 
The Peacocks were led by Connor Gittings, who won a shoot-off to earn the DII American trap title. Gittings was one of five competitors to record a perfect 100/100 score, eventually going on to win the shoot-off over four members of the Fort Hays State team. Gittings' efforts also earned him All-American Honorable Mention honors in American trap and a tie for sixth place individually overall.
 
Each team's High Overall All score was determined by combining the total score of the top five individuals in the disciplines of skeet, trap, and sporting clays. UIU placed third in DII with a HOA of 1289/1500. Alongside Gittings, Colton Heintz-Kuderer, Jayden Shaw, Lucas Riberich, and Luke Recker contributed to the team score. Fort Hays State won the HOA title with a score of 1442/1500 while Drury placed second with a score of 1358/1500.
 
Over the first two days of competition, each team shot double trap, double skeet, and super sporting clays. UIU finished second in DII in all three disciplines. In double trap, the Peacocks were led by Brady Carrigan, who finished with a score of 90/100. Gittings, Shaw, Heintz-Kuderer, and Boe Caplan contributed to the team's score in this discipline.
 
In double skeet, Riberich paced the team with his score of 90/100. Gittings, Heintz-Kuderer, Shaw, and Carrigan helped make up the rest of the team's score. In super sporting, Shaw stepped up to lead the way with a score of 77/100.
 
During the last two days of competition, each team competed in American skeet, trap, and sporting clays. UIU placed third as a team in all three of those disciplines.
 
In addition to Gittings' perfect score, Shaw (97/100), Heintz-Kuderer (95/100), Carrigan (91/100), and Caplan (91/100) made up the team's 474/500 total in trap. Individually, Caplan's score was the fourth best total in DII women's trap.
 
In skeet and sporting clays, Gittings finished with the top score on the team in each discipline at 95/100 and 85/100 respectively. Heintz-Kuderer, Riberich, and Shaw also contributed scores in both disciplines. Recker rounded out the team score for skeet while Carrigan was the final contributor to the team's score in sporting clays.
 
"The team worked all year on and off the range to earn their way to nationals," said Head Coach Reba Kingsley. "The student-athletes push each other to improve, as well as the other Midwest teams we compete against during the season, which helps make us better. I am so proud of our student-athlete's commitment to the team, desire to excel, and their individual and team finishes at nationals. The opportunity to attend was an excellent experience for them."