Craig Simpson and Aliana McMaster copped the coveted titles of highest overall (HOA) and ladies’ champion, respectively, after the Rangers Gun Club Sporting Clays Classic held on the expansive driving course at Tru-Juice Complex in Bog Walk, St Catherine, on Sunday.

Approximately 145 shooters competed for top honours in various categories under extreme conditions of punishing heat and high humidity throughout the day.

Simpson missed his first target on Station 17 where he started his competition. He recovered and picked off the other five targets. He only missed two more until he got to Station 10, then came Station 11 or the ‘bonus station’ which proved very challenging for everyone but he got three.

Overall, he missed 11 targets for a score 89 which was good enough to bag the HOA title.

“I thought there was something there for everybody. There was the first section of the course, I started at 17. To Station 10, I thought it was a soft course and then we hit the reality at Station 11, going back to 16 which I thought was very challenging.”

He was happy with winning the event for the second time after previous success in 2023 with a score of 97.

It was not a sure win for Simpson though as three other shooters ended on 88. They had to be separated by way of shoot-offs to determine the runner-up and A Class positions.

McMaster bagged the ladies trophy for the fourth time on the back of 85 out of 100. She started solidly on Station 12 by picking off all six targets, then dropping one on Station 13 but followed up with getting all six on Station 14. Her scorecard showed several stations where she picked off all the targets but she was not so lucky on the bonus station where she dropped all four as did most of the shooters on the day.

“I think 85 is a really good score for today. I’m very happy with it,” McMaster said.

“I could appreciate some of the stations that we had gone through today and I thought it was just a very well-balanced course.”

After the main event, the excitement extended to shoot-offs to determine the runner-up, which went to Andrew Azan after three rounds of shoot-off. The other two shooters were Christian Sasso, who topped A Class and Ian Banks, who placed second.

Toby Hugh conquered Station 11, the bonus station.

The lead sponsor for the event was Sterling Asset Management, with support from Worthy Park Estates, STL Solar, Wisynco, Legend Beer, Tru-Juice, Jamaica Skeet Club and KFC, among others.

Part-proceeds from the event are to go to the Food For the Poor charity organisation.

Class winners: A Class – Christian Sasso 88, B Class – Michael Banbury 80, C Class – Zachary Chong 81, D Class – Luke Chin 80, E Class – Scott Roman 74, Hunters or Beginners – Toby Hugh 79, Ladies – Aliana McMaster 85, Juniors – Aliana McMaster 85 and Sub-Juniors – Liam Samuda 79.

Aliana McMaster