Benjamin, McMaster top field in Jackson Bay Sporting Clays
Nicholas Benjamin and Aliana McMaster outshot the competition to be crowned male and female overall winners of the Jackson Bay Hunting & Fishing Club Sporting Clay competition in Jackson Bay, Clarendon, on Sunday.
Benjamin was the only shooter to score in the 90s after shooting 90 and picking off all six targets on eight of the 17 stations on the course.
“I am very humbled, very happy about the win today. It wasn’t easy. It was not an overly difficult course but that combined with the conditions [as] it was very hot [and] very windy,” said Benjamin.
“It’s the first time I have shot by the sea as well. I think more impactful than the ocean was the sea breeze [and] I think that made it harder than just the sea as the background,” he added.
Three shooters were engaged in a shoot-off to determine the runner-up and A Class champion after they all shot 89 in regulation time. Shaun Barnes shot a perfect eight from eight to take the runner-up spot.
Last year’s national shotgun champion Chad Ziadie scored seven form eight for the A Class top spot, while Bruce DeQuesnay bagged six for A Class runner-up. Ray McMaster was third by way of ‘long run’ ahead of Ian Banks and Christian Sasso after they all shot 88 each.
Aliana McMaster shot 78 to win the Ladies section ahead of Wendy McMaster (77), but had to engage Kashka Jones in a shoot-off to determine the Junior champion after both of them shot 78 in the tournament. They had to do three rounds before McMaster could claim the win.
They both shot seven and six in the first and second rounds, respectively, but McMaster shot a perfect eight from eight in the third round to Jones’ six.
“The course was set really nice [and] I enjoyed shooting the course and going through the different stations,” she said.
Club President Sean Clacken spoke about the charity element of the tournament.
“We are a part of the Portland Cottage Community, so we have partnered with the school and have done so for two decades, which is the Portland Cottage Primary School. So every year we meet with them, we try to find out what it is that they need, what assistance we can offer, and in this case, we decided that part proceed from this shoot will go towards the Portland Cottage Primary School,” he said.
