Cngrats to Kay and Max

[JThompson]

Also congrats to BJ who set a couple new world records and was just nipped by .15

Michel and Miculek Take Top Honors At Smith & Wesson 2008 US Steel Nationals

Sedro-Woolley, WA — Facing off against the nation’s best shooters, Max Michel and Kay Clark Miculek captured the Men’s and Women’s titles the 2008 US National Steel Championships presented by Smith & Wesson. The match, now in its second year, was help at the Skip-J Range in Anderson, South Carolina, March 12-16, with 90 shooters competing.

The 26 year-old Michel, who is a Staff Sergeant and captain of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit’s Action Pistol Team, topped all shooters with a total match time of 81.62 seconds beating second place finisher BJ Norris by just 0.15 seconds and third place shooter, and defending Champion, KC Eusebio by 0.36 seconds. Eusebio also serves in the U.S. Army as a member of the Marksmanship Unit.

The same three finished in identical order at the 2007 World Speed Shooting Championships setting up what many expect to will be the most hotly contested Steel Challenge when the three face-off again in August.

“The competition continues to get better and better every year. I just happened to be the guy on top this time,” said Michel. “The weather wreaked havoc on all the competitors and it was like a mental roller coaster shooting under those conditions. Although the scores were a bit lower this year, I thought everyone dealt with the weather challenges very well. I’m looking forward to the return match-up this August."

In the women’s match, Kay Clark Miculek, the sport’s most accomplished female shooter, added the National title to her record setting six Steel Challenge titles by defeating the defending Women’s Champion, Jesse Abbate, with a time of 102.09 seconds to Abbate’s 105.37. Abbate previously topped Miculek at the 2007 World Speed Shooting Championships.

Rounding out the top five shooters were Todd Jarrett with a time of 83.01 and Dave Sevigny shooting 85.40. Among the women shooters Rebecca Jones finished third with 109.86, Kaci Cochran came in fourth with 115.82 and Margaret Reese rounded out the top five with a time of 136.83.

Two World Records Fall

Despite the inclement weather which threatened completion of the match at several points, two new world records were set at the 2008 match. BJ Norris claimed the records on the stages Outer Limits and Roundabout.

On Outer Limits Norris beat his own existing record of 11.40 with a blistering time of 11.14. On Roundabout Norris shot a time of 8.29 edging out the previous record of 8.35 set by KC Eusebio. Along with his time on Showdown, Norris now holds three of the eight Steel Challenge world records with Max Michel holding three (Five to Go, Speed Option and Accelerator) and Eusebio holding the remaining two (Smoke & Hope and Pendulum).

Edited April 9, 2008 by JThompson

[KGentry]

Thanks for the article! Good stuff!

[JThompson]

Thanks for the article! Good stuff!

It was sent via email from Dave Thomas...