Trap & Skeet 11/3/2025 9:59:00 AM

Trap & Skeet Take HOA Title For Fourth Year In a Row

Glenn Dale, MD- The Washington College Trap & Skeet Team (WCTS) closed out the fall season at the ACUI/SCTP Upper East Coast Conference Championships held at Prince George's County Trap and Skeet Center (PGTS) October 31 through November 2. This tournament is not only for awards but also to determine an athlete's classification for the ACUI/SCTP National Championships held in San Antonio, TX in March.

WCTS athletes competed in six separate clay target disciplines including Doubles Trap, Doubles Skeet, Super Sporting, American Trap, American Skeet, and Sporting Clays. The doubles and Super Sporting events consisted of 50 targets each while the American Trap, American Skeet and Sporting Clays events were 100 targets each. Schools who participated in all six events competed for individual awards and High Overall (HOA) awards while schools who shot five or fewer events competed for Classic All Around (CAA) awards. Athletes and schools who compete in all six events are not eligible for CAA awards.

On Friday WCTS athletes opened the event at PGTS with crisp clear skies but the 15-30 mph winds made the targets rise and fall aggressively. The first event of the day was doubles skeet where WCTS athletes battled the wind and targets that only made it two-thirds of their normal distance and when the dust settled the Shoremen had a clean sweep of the podium. MJ Rosenstiel '28 rose to the top claiming Men's 1st with a 46/50 followed closely by teammate Trice Moore '28 who took 2nd with a 44/50. Senior Captain Colin Krug '26 claimed 3rd with a 42/50. Shorewoman Gracie Heintzelman '28 broke a solid 36/50 earning Ladies 2nd place honors. WCTS took 1st place in the team event breaking 212/250 targets with Rosenstiel, Moore, and Krug being joined by Captain Chris Johnson '26 (41/50) and David Daniels '29 (39/50).

After a quick turn around and an increase in wind speed WCTS took to the doubles trap field for event two. The targets became more erratic but the team held strong and claimed their second event title breaking 202/250 targets. Rosenstiel and Moore both posted 42/50 while Heintzelman and Max McNulty Van Oordt '27 broke 41/50. The team top five was rounded out by Jeffrey Paes, crushing 36/50. Rosenstiel and Moore battled for top honors in a tight shootoff with Rosenstiel earning 1st breaking 19 extra to Moore's 18, claiming 2nd. McNulty claimed 3rd place for the Men's side while Heintzelman took top 1st place Ladies honors.

WCTS returned for day two which was warmer and had far less wind for the next two events. Event three was Sporting Clays where WCTS was led by Daniels 85/100* and Krug 84/100 ranking them 5th and 6th in the men's category. Moore followed closely with an 80/100 while Rosenstiel broke 79/100 and McNulty's 76/100 rounded out the top five. Heintzelman was the only podium finisher taking 3rd with a 71/100. WCTS finished with a 404 which ranked them 4th out of seven teams. This event proved incredibly close with only nine targets separating WCTS and 1st place West Point who broke 413/500. Virginia Tech finished in 2nd with 411/500 and James Madison University claimed 3rd with 405/500.

After a team tailgate filled with family, friends, and alumni, WCTS fit in a quick warm up before taking to the field for event four, American Skeet. Rosenstiel set the pace for the Shoremen breaking 98/100 and running the last 50 targets. Moore followed with a 93/100 and Krug smashed a 92/100 both finishing with a perfect round. Heintzelman crushed 89/100* and McNulty added an 87/100 to the tally. WCTS finished with 459/500 claiming 2nd place out of nine schools and again only nine targets behind 1st place West Point 468/500. Both Rosenstiel and Heintzelman found themselves on the shoot off field at the end of the event with Rosenstiel prevailing after a 2-1 win finishing 1st out of a field of 76 men. Heintzelman lost her shootoff 1-2 but still finished on the podium claiming 2nd place Ladies.

Sunday saw another clear and crisp morning with WCTS athletes beginning event five - Super Sporting. Rosenstiel crushed 41/50 targets which was enough for a 1st place finish in the men's category. Heintzelman also found herself on the podium breaking 28/50 which was enough for 3rd in Ladies. In addition to Rosenstiel the team score was made up of Daniels 34/50, Moore 32/50, Krug 31/50, and Johnson 30/50. WCTS 168/250 wasn't quite enough as they took 2nd place out of five schools only four targets behind 1st place James Madison University's 172/250.

Event six saw WCTS take to the trap fields where the competition was stiff but the team put up a solid set of scores. Leading the team once again was Rosenstiel with a 95/100 followed closely by Johnson and Moore both breaking 92/100. Heintzelman and Paes rounded out the top five both contributing 90/100 to the team score. Heintzelman found herself on the podium again going 6/6 in event finishes, this time claiming another 2nd. WCTS posted a 459/500 finishing in 3rd place of nine schools. Again the margin was razor thin with only seven targets separating WCTS and 1st place West Point with 466/500 and 2nd place Naval Academy with 461/500.

After the last shots were fired WCTS athletes were well represented on the HOA podium with Rosenstiel claiming 1st breaking 401/450 targets. Moore joined him taking 3rd with a 383/450. On the Ladies podium Heintzelman took 2nd place breaking 355/450 only 12 targets off 1st place. While WCTS was not eligible for CAA the team would have finished 2nd out of nine schools and only 25 targets behind West Point. Since WCTS competed in all 6 events they were crowned the HOA team for the event breaking a total of 1904/2250 for the weekend and beating 2nd place University of Maryland by a commanding 246 targets.

After the event Heintzelman said "I am so proud of all of our accomplishments this weekend and I'm thankful to be a part of such a great team! Even with the strong wind and cold weather, we all pushed through and kept our focus and claimed another title! Thanks to everyone's hard work". Head Coach Doug Pfaff '10 also offered thoughts on the win, "This is our 4th Conference Championship HOA in 4 years and I could not be more proud of the team and what they accomplished this weekend. We have a great staff and driven athletes and that makes all the difference! They have embraced a process driven culture; they want to practice, they want to get better, and they want to win; this weekend it showed!"

Washington College Trap and Skeet would like to thank all of our family, friends, supporters, and alumni who joined us at the range this weekend. We would also like to thank Chen, Dakota, Pablo, and all of the PGTS staff for hosting us this weekend and providing excellent service and targets. Lastly this event wouldn't be possible without the ACUI/SCTP staff that put on events all across the country. Many thanks to Taylor, Christian, and Wayne for being onsite and running an excellent event.

Up Next: Washington College Trap & Skeet will resume competition in the spring semester in Savannah, GA at the Lower East Coast Conference Championships.

* Denotes a Personal Record high score

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Players Mentioned

Gracie Heintzelman: Sophomore

Chris Johnson: 6' 0"; Senior

Colin Krug: Senior

Max McNulty Van Oordt: 6' 1"; Junior

Trice Moore: 6' 0"; Sophomore

MJ Rosenstiel: 6' 3"; Sophomore

Jeffrey Paes: 5' 7"; Freshman

David Daniels: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Gracie Heintzelman
: Sophomore

Chris Johnson
: 6' 0"; Senior

Colin Krug
: Senior

Max McNulty Van Oordt
: 6' 1"; Junior

Trice Moore
: 6' 0"; Sophomore

MJ Rosenstiel
: 6' 3"; Sophomore

Jeffrey Paes
: 5' 7"; Freshman

David Daniels
: Freshman