2022 NORTH CENTRAL REGIONAL

Northbrook sets a high bar in terms of facilities, food, and available vendors during a major shoot. This year’s regional was no different. A plethora of vendors were set up on the drive adjacent to the clubhouse, selling their wares with a vast selection of fine shotguns on display. Plentiful ammunition was available at the shell house ensuring shooters had plenty to participate. Multiple food vendors were on site offering everything from burgers to woodfired pizza.

Northbrook’s location opens the door to local cuisine and attractions that is arguably unmatched throughout the country. Whether one enjoys the Navy Pier or sits down at one of the many generations old Greek restaurants in the area, there is a lot to see just a short drive from these beautiful shooting grounds. One of the personal favorites for locals and visitors alike is Portillo’s. Founded in Villa Park, Illinois in 1963 by Robert J. Portillo, this chain of restaurants offers Chicago food staples such as the big Italian beef sandwich, Chicago style hotdogs and my wife’s personal favorite the chocolate cake shake. On your next trip to Northbrook, if you haven’t already, do yourself a favor and check this place out.

Northbrook’s shooting grounds are vast and offer a wide variety of backdrops and terrain. Ponds and lowlands accentuate the FITASC layouts and abut the recently acquired portion of the grounds which are dotted with old growth hardwoods. The main event courses offer plenty of space by which a target setter can create unlimited presentations.

The west side of the grounds was the location for two separate courses with target combinations and trajectories set specific for each gauge and gun type. The wooded south course was set for the 28 gauge, .410 bore and sideby-side events, offering fun presentations for the little guns and the aficionados with horizontal barrels. The north course, with its open field background, gave the 12-gauge true pair, 20 gauge and pump gun shooters an opportunity to attempt targets with a little more elbow room.

Blaize Whitehead stood alone at the top of the podium after posting a 48x50 in the 12-gauge true pair event, one target ahead of a five-way tie with 47s for the runner-up through M3 positions. In the pump-gun event William Yacktman dropped only one target for the champion slot, two targets ahead of runner-up Jason Cranmer. A three-way tie with 47s for HOA in the 20-gauge event had

to be settled by a tiebreaker. After the dust settled, Alexandra Wampler earned the champion spot ahead of Dalton Kirchhoefer and Dean Blanchard.

Meanwhile on the south course John Brinckerhoff was busy putting together a perfect round to take the HOA spot in the 28 gauge with a 50x50. The .410 bore event saw another tie on 46 with Barry Laduke, Devin Anderson, and William Yacktman. Laduke prevailed in the tiebreaker to earn the HOA position. The event for the classic side by sides was dominated by Jon Porter who put up an excellent score of 48x50, one target ahead of a pair of shooters named William: McTurnan and Yacktman.

The preliminary sporting event hosted 428 shooters in the tournament warm-up. Dropping only two targets Brandon Powell earned the HOA trophy, one target ahead of Eric Harvey and three targets ahead of third place and Sub Junior champion Griffin Howe. Karen Shedd took ladies champion honors, one target ahead of runner-up Diane Sorantino and two ahead of Kayla Wilgus.

A three-way tie with 97x100 for the top spot in the super sporting event developed between Brian Demott, Bert Stelly and Tyler Duncan. The tie breaker settled the stand-off leaving Demott with the HOA placement and Stelly as the runner-up. Not to be outdone in the drama realm, Diane Sorantino and Alexandra Wampler tied up at 95x100 to set up another tie breaker. Sorantino prevailed to take the Ladies first spot leaving Wampler in the runner-up post, one target ahead of Karen Shedd.

Four parcours were set in the center of the shooting grounds and sported fun targets with a couple challenging combinations. Utilizing a cattail slough, the target setter threw a couple of hot presentations that required correct hold point in order to stay in front of the bird. Adding in the complication of the mount, required work on the shooter’s part to earn a couple of these pairs.

Jon Porter and Mike Vande Noord tied things up with 49s on the 20-gauge layouts. After the tie breaker, Porter took the HOA spot over Vande Noord and one target ahead of Ohio’s Christina Loudenslager. The 28-gauge parcours offered straight forward targets that only required respect. Eight shooters posted 49s on these two layouts, but one shooter navigated both parcours without a flinch. William Walton posted a perfect 50x50 to earn HOA honors. Well done sir.

The team at Northbrook set four excellent tournament 5-Stand fields to test the target reading and shot sequence planning ability of the competitors at the North Central Regional. This event was very competitive with some excellent scores and performances. This year’s champion nearly straightened all four fields. Karen Shedd demonstrated that her target reading, and planning skills were superior to all other competitors this weekend. Her 99x100 earned her the champion trophy one target ahead of Braxton Oliver and two ahead of Jacob Cameron. Shedd also took the lady's number one position, three targets ahead of ClayShooting USA’s own team member, Haylyn Hanks.

The AFS Turbo is a new species of American Field Sporting, like super sporting and with the intent to allow shooters to move through more efficiently. This course was set on this writer’s favorite part of the shooting grounds at Northbrook. The northernmost portion of the club has a setting of mature hardwoods and surrounded on two sides by marsh and a pond. This area allows a target setter to unleash their imagination and set phenomenal targets, and that is exactly what the Northbrook staff did.

Brandon Powell set the bar exceptionally high with his score of 104 (remember the “X” birds are worth two points). This score earned Powell the top spot by putting eight targets between him and the closest competitors. Heath Garrett and Wendell Cherry tied things up with a pair of 96s. A tiebreaker ensued after which

Garrett earned the runner-up trophy.

This year’s North Central featured the Krieghoff FITASC Grand Slam. Eight challenging parcours were set from flat land to cattail reeds. This writer had a blast shooting each presentation and anxiously anticipated the next parcour like a kid on Christmas morning. I may be showing my age here but, I was waiting for a Labrador Retriever to jump in the cattails and flush up a duck just like the old Nintendo game. Northbrook managed the flow of the course wonderfully with clear direction and signage, keeping shooters on schedule and on task.

Todd Hitch took HOA and J1 titles, showing us all how to do it with a high score of 193 out of 200, one target ahead of Kevin DeMichiel. Karen Shedd took the ladies title with an impressive 186 out of 200 finishing eight targets ahead of the closest competitors.

Winchester’s wildly successful head-first dive into support for the ladies in our sport continued at the North Central Regional. Karen Shedd dropped only 34 total targets across the Main, FITASC and 5-Stand events to post a total score of 466x500 to earn the Ladies Cup and a check for $2500. Haylyn Hanks put up a 448x500 to take the second-place position, seven targets ahead of Madison Sharpe. Winchester’s dedication to the sport by conceiving, sponsoring and funding this essential recognition of the great lady shooters we share the courses and parcours with, has been a welcome addition to the championship tour. Many thanks to Winchester for their continued support.

How many times have you walked off a main event course at Northbrook thinking, “that was really fun”, irrespective of your score? The main at the North Central Regional embodied that kind of experience. 539 intrepid shooters took on the red and green courses over two days chasing greatness. The green course featured a slow and close rabbit, set by Gary Fitzjarrell, that befuddled many of shooters, some of which were alluding to the

target’s pedigree. Shooting from the berms, lent itself to quite colorful iterations and joyful exuberance as the participants solved the puzzles presented to them. All in all, Brett Siebert and team set two great courses that were not only challenging but, entertaining.

Some people are masters at solving target puzzles and one of the best, Anthony Matarese posted a monster score of 195x200 targets attempted, to become the North Central Regional Champion. Runner-up Todd Hitch nearly straightened the green course posting a 99 to end his outing with

a 193x200 and also earn the junior title. Karen Shedd and Diane Sorantino tied for the ladies HOA with 181 each. Karen wound up with the top spot after a tense shoot off, two targets ahead of third-place lady Madison Sharpe.

To see the complete event scoring results please visit scorechaser.com or scan the QR code below. n

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