ALIANA McMaster and Christian Sasso battled punishing conditions of searing heat, high winds and rain last weekend at the Worthy Park Sugar Factory in Ewarton, St Catherine, to be crowned champion and runner-up, respectively, in the Jamaica Skeet Club’s National Sporting Clays Championship.

They came out ahead of a massive field of 152 other shooters which turned out on Saturday and Sunday.

They shot one hundred targets/birds each day and an additional twenty-five birds on Sunday as part of the very competitive Super Six shoot-off. That shoot-off features an intense battle among the shooters with the six best scores at the end of the main event (200 Birds).

Sunday’s Super Six shoot-off consisted of six gunners who entered the ‘bullring’ to determine the national sporting clays champion for the year.

After the Super Six scores were added to the main event scores, the shooters amassed the following totals: McMaster 195, Sasso 191, Roman Tavares-Finson 191, Todd Lazarus 189, Chad Zaidie 187 and David Wong 185.

During the two-day main event, McMaster’s 177 was three shots better than her nearest rival Sasso who shot 174. Her two-day scores were 87 and 90 on Saturday and Sunday respectively while Sasso posted 81 and 93 respectively.

McMaster is the first female to be the highest overall winner of the 200-Bird National Sporting Clays Championship. She topped the main event and bagged 18 of 25 birds in the Super-Six on her way to winning the championship. She was also declared the Ladies winner for the fourth time as well as the Junior’s winner.

“I think the event was well organised, well set; the course [offered] good quality targets. I think a lot of people can agree with me when I say that the 200-Bird in particular is one of the more challenging events in the NSC (National Shotgun Championship) [consisting four separate events line-up]. So just to come out here and do my best and keep my head on the gun and breaking the clays, it was honestly just a blessing to just enjoy the whole experience as well” said McMaster.

This year’s runner-up Sasso was also pleased with his performance.

“It feels good. I shot in the super six with five other amazing shooters who really came out this year and performed at their best so it feels good to be with them.”