Virginia Shooting Sports Association: Virginia Dominates National Championship

Collegiate teams from the Commonwealth recently competed in the Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP) Collegiate Nationals at the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s Talladega, Alabama facility. - The Liberty University Action Shooting Team and the Virginia Tech Corps Marksmanship Unit (CMU) competed against 10 collegiate teams who fielded a total of 46 competitive 4-person squads. SASP awards both squad and individual awards, and Virginia teams took the lion’s share of both across multiple categories.

In the Rimfire Pistol Iron Sights Division, Liberty University took the National Championship with the Virginia Tech CMU besting their archrivals the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets Marksmanship Unit by nearly 20 seconds. At the individual level, Liberty’s Sam Verdoorn and Sam Stover took 2nd and 3rd place respectively among males. In the Rimfire Pistol Optic Division, Virginia Tech’s CMU took 3rd place and at the individual level CMU’s Cadet Adam Jardines took 2nd overall in the male category with Cadet Brianna Smiley taking 3rd in the female category.

In Rimfire Rifle Iron Sights, Liberty University’s “Blue” squad took the championship with its “Red” squad taking 3rd place. At the individual level, Christian Morgan took 2nd place in the male division. In Rimfire Rifle Optic Division, Liberty’s “Blue” squad took 1st place with Timothy “TJ” McFarland taking 2nd for males and Connelly Weems taking 2nd among the females.

In the Pistol Caliber Carbine (PCC) Division, Liberty again took the national championship, thus capturing the national title in all divisions the university entered. An incredible achievement by the students and their Head Coach, Bill Crawford. At the individual level, Sam Verdoorn took 2nd for males and Connelly Weems took 2nd for the ladies.

SASP State Advisor Dr. Eliot Jardines stated, “Our collegiate teams have achieved tremendous success in a very short period of time. This was only Liberty University’s second time at Collegiate Nationals and their dominance is unquestioned. The Virginia Tech Corps Marksmanship Unit was established just before winter break in mid-December and largely practiced with simulators. To have placed 3rd in a division is a testament to the hard work the cadets put in and to Head Coach Jones’ vision. We look forward to seeing both teams again at the Virginia/West Virginia Championship later this summer at Shadow Hawk Defense.”

Both teams have established MidwayUSA Foundation endowment accounts and would greatly appreciate any donations to help them establish a firm financial foundation. Donations are tax-deductible – to donate please the links under each photo: