The Tennessee Wildlife Federation's Tennessee Scholastic Clay Target Program (TNSCTP) held its state championship shooting tournament last weekend, June 4-6, at the Montgomery County Shooting Complex in Southside, TN. Over 1,000 young athletes competed with their teams for state championship titles in the shooting disciplines of Trap, Skeet and Sporting Clays.

Multiple scholarships were awarded at the closing ceremonies, with more than $10,000 in funds going to five High School seniors. Seniors participating in the program had the opportunity to apply for several different scholarship funds, including a statewide fund of $2,500, four regional funds of $1,000 each and two Davis P. Rice Memorial Scholarship awards of $2,000 and $1,000 respectively. Mallory Martin of Union City, TN stood out by winning the top spot of each scholarship category, resulting in $5,500 of funds to be used for college.

Additionally, 23 of the athletes were named to the All-State teams in their respective divisions at the shoot and awarded trophies. All-State teams represent the "best of the best" of the program and must meet high criteria, including a 3.0 grade point average and having the highest overall shooting averages. Shooters names to the TNSCTP All-State teams will represent the sport as ambassadors across the state throughout the year, as well as at the National Scholastic Clay Target Program National Championships in Sparta, Illinois this July.

TNSCTP was launched in 2001 and provides Tennessee's youth, grades four-college an opportunity to compete in clay target shooting competitions with their peers from across the state. The goals of the program are to teach youth the importance of safe firearms handling, responsibility, leadership and teamwork, as well as to promote healthy competition and introduce them into an outdoor lifestyle. For more information on the program, visit www.tnsctp.org or contact Chad Whittenburg at (615) 353-1133 ext. 3.

The winning teams were:
Trap: Varsity Division - Jefferson County Patriots
Trap: Junior Varsity Division - Carroll County 4-H Claybusters
Trap: Intermediate Advanced Division - Middle Tennessee Christian School (Murfreesboro)
Trap: Intermediate Entry Division - Hoodlum Alley Clay Busters (Bedford County)
Trap: Rookie Division - Hoodlum Alley Clay Busters (Bedford County)
Skeet: Varsity Division - Haywood County Young Guns
Skeet: Junior Varsity Division - Cherokee Rod & Gun Club Team (Sullivan County)
Skeet: Intermediate Advanced Division - Haywood County Young Guns
Skeet: Intermediate Entry Division - Monroe County
Sporting Clays Varsity Division - Tri-County Clay Busters (Giles, Lincoln & Marshall County)
Sporting Clays Junior Varsity Division - Cherokee Rod & Gun Club Team (Sullivan County)
Sporting Clays Intermediate Advances Division - Haywood County Young Guns
Sporting Clays Intermediate Entry Division - Heritage School (Blount County)

The scholarship winners were:
Davis P. Rice Memorial Scholarships:
Mallory Martin (Union City, TN) - $2,000
Dillon Barnes (Clarksville, TN) - $1,000

TNSCTP Scholarship, Statewide:
Mallory Martin - $2,500

TNSCTP Scholarships, Regional:
Mallory Martin $1,000
Colton Carroll (Columbia, TN) - $1,000
Amanda Server (Crossville, TN) - $1,000
Andrew Sellin (Madisonville, TN) - $1,000

The individuals named to the All-State teams were:
Senior Division Men
Captain, Robert Fletcher (Manchester, TN)
2nd Post, Brandon Champion (Hillsboro, TN)
3rd Post, Drew Gilmer (Manchester, TN)
4th Post, Josh Swoape (Manchester, TN(
5th Post, Nick Nadeau (Hillsboro, TN)
Alternate, Brandon Nester (Manchester, TN)

Senior Division Women
Captain , Michaela Prater (Morrison, TN)
2nd Post, Amanda Server (Crossville, TN)
3rd Post, Virginia Robinson (Manchester, TN)
4th Post, Kristin Lyons (Summertown, TN)
5th Post, Keisha Smith (Crossville, TN )

Intermediate Division
Captain, Derek Anderson (Manchester, TN)
2nd Post, Ryan Patterson (Wartrace, TN)
3rd Post, Cannon Lamb (Shelbyville, TN)
4th Post, Hunter Vaughn (Lavergne, TN)
5th Post, Taylor Bolin (Murfreesboro, TN)
Alternate, Chase Smith (Shelbyville, TN)

Rookie Division
Captain , Spencer Roberts (Manchester, TN)
2nd Post, Logan Landers (Shelbyville, TN)
3rd Post, Nathan Smith (Unionville, TN)
4th Post, Hunter Rowland (College Grove, TN)
5th Post, Grant Porter (Spring Hill, TN)
Alternate, Elizabeth Burks (Ripley, TN)