This entry crossposted at the Gun Nuts Radio blog under Indiana IDPA State Championship.
This weekend, I shot the Indiana State IDPA Championship Match, at Atlanta Conservation Club just 35-40 minutes north of my house. The match was shot over two days, although most shooters shot it all either on Friday or then on Saturday. All told there were over 100 shooters, and major sponsoships were provided by Starline Brass, Ruger, and a company with which I’m quite familiar, ParaUSA. There were a host of other sponsors for the match as well – we’ll mention more of them on the radio tomorrow night, so don’t miss the show.
This was the first IDPA State Championship held in Indiana since (I believe) 2004, and it’s good to have a major match back in the state. Based on what I saw this year, next year will be even better. Obviously, for a club running their first major in a while, this was a learning experience for everyone – and I feel like the lessons learned from this year’s match will go a long way towards making next year’s state championship an even more successful. I don’t want people to think I’m knocking Atlanta CC or the way the match was run. I feel that this match was a smashing success for Atlanta, and because of that we should be able to continue to see major caliber matches in Indiana for IDPA shooters for years to come. The chief driver behind that success was and is Jeff Brown, the area coordinator for IDPA. Jeff poured a lot of his blood, sweat and tears into this match, and without him it wouldn’t have been possible. Also, in addition to having a passion for the shooting sports, Jeff is an all around good guy. We had the opportunity to chat for a bit about the match, and in every interaction I’ve had with him he’s impressed me as a classy person, and someone who deeply cares about ensuring that our shooting sports and heritage are preserved. Kudos to Jeff Brown and all the staff at Atlanta CC for a great day of shooting.
As to the match itself, if I had to describe it in one word for my ADD readers, that word would be “cold”. Match day it was about 40-45 degrees on the range, overcast and windy. I had not dressed accordingly, because the forecast was for 55 degrees and mostly sunny. Oh well; I shot through the cold, and while I didn’t turn in my best performance (5th in ESP), it was good enough to beat the other media/press guys in attendance, earning me a win in the High Press Gun sub-category.
The courses of fire were for the most part very well laid out. Out of the 20 courses, there was only one COF that I personally wasn’t a fan of, however as I said the other 19 courses were absolutely phenomenal. My favorite by far was COF number 8. You start from behind a table in the kneeling position, gun at the low ready – the idea is that you’ve already been in a gunfight and now you’ve reached the last guy who is holding your girlfriend/wife hostage. You have to come out from behind the table to the left or the right (no going over the top) and shoot the badguy in the head, as the rest of him is obscured by hard cover. Of course, you also shouldn’t shoot the hostage. Now, that may sound pretty easy, except for one thing – you have one bullet in the gun. If you miss, you have to reload, which from that kneeling position would be pretty awkward. The fastest time on that COF for the day was 1.67 seconds, I had the third fastest at 1.79. Courses of fire like this are what made this such a great match, as they placed a strong emphasis on being fast and accurate.
I spent a lot of the “standing time” talking to other shooters, trying to get a feel for how other people thought the match was going. Everyone seemed pleased – from the greenest Novice class all the way to the dedicated Master class shooter, this match was a big hit. Again, it’s a great pleasure from a personal standpoint to see IDPA major matches back in Indiana, and I’m looking forward to seeing more and more of these matches as the years come and go.
Here are the match winners and sub category winners:
CDP Champion: Chris Martin CDP – Master 194.38 (26)
ESP Champion: Larry Hill ESP – Master 202.14 (25)
SSP Champion: Dick Lichon SSP – Master 177.84 (30)
ESR Champion: Bob Briggs ESR – Sharpshooter 276.57 (17)
SSR Champion: Steven L. King SSR – Sharpshooter 313.48 (60)
High Senior: Larry Hill ESP – Master 202.14 (25)
High Lady: Roxanne Hill ESP – Marksman 340.66 (47)
High Law Enforcement: Jeremy VanGieson SSP – Master 238.54 (28)
High Press: Caleb Giddings ESP – Sharpshooter 303.06 (28)
High Military Veteran: Dick Lichon SSP – Master 177.84 (30)
High Distinguished Senior: Mike Hanlon SSR – Expert 375.80 (88)
Most Accurate: Rich DeMondo ESP – Expert 222.15 (9)
Congratulations to everyone who shot the state championship match this year. We’ll have more coverage of the Indiana IDPA State Championship match tomorrow night on Gun Nuts Radio at 9pm Eastern – don’t miss it!