CLEMSON — The Clemson University shotgun club team won first place in the sporting clays event at the Association of College Unions International (ACUI) National Collegiate Shotgun Championships in San Antonio, Texas, April 2-4.

Teams from 49 colleges and universities and more than 400 shooters participated in the competition, which included six different shooting events.

The Clemson team also won second place in the American skeet event, placed third in five-stand shooting and came in fourth in trap shooting. This was Clemson’s first time participating in the national competition.

Seven students competed in the event: Caroline Couch of Greenville; Matt Couch of Greenville; Wake Fickey of Gainesville, Ga.; Brandon McMenemy of Columbia; Jack Rogers of Rock Hill; Austin Rodgers of Ridge Spring; and Player Aston of Latta.

Only in its second year, the shotgun club is a relatively new team to Clemson’s campus. Club adviser Rick Willey, a Clemson Extension 4-H natural resource specialist, said the team worked hard to achieve such early success.

Wiley attributes some of the team’s success to their partnership with the department of parks, recreation and tourism management (PRTM), which has allowed the team access to its newly renovated shotgun range in the Clemson University Experimental Forest. He also credits PRTM instructor and team coach Ed Prater for his coaching and advice to the team.

“It feels awesome to win Gold and Silver in two of the four events we competed in the first year attending,” Willey said. “Many people there took notice of Clemson, and we had a great welcome and congratulations from the Clemson family when we returned.”

Clemson’s team was supported by a $7,500 grant from the National Shooting Sports Foundation and by the club’s fundraising efforts.