Strong Performances in

the Ladies Division

The Ladies race was also very exciting. Diane Sorantino, no stranger to Hopkins’ targets, quickly got everyone’s attention when she posted a terrific 94 on Saturday morning. In fact, this turned out to be one of only six scores shot in the 90s all weekend by the ladies field of 49 shooters. Going into Sunday morning, despite several contenders being very close as “possibles” for the top spot, when Diane faltered on the Blue course, Karen Shedd saw her opening. Shedd racked up a strong 95 on the blue course on Sunday afternoon to run away with the Ladies Championship, five targets ahead of Sorantino who held on with a 179 for Ladies runner-up. Reanna Frauens, Gianna Santo and Shelby Moon all tied at 178, with Frauens taking the third spot on the Ladies podium. Shedd’s Ladies Main Event win also topped off a very consistent weekend performance for her with wins in Ladies Super Sporting and Ladies Great American Prelim, as well as her third place in the Ladies FITASC Grand Slam.

There was one other race which deserves mention, the Winchester Ladies Cup. This is a special cash award by Winchester at the NSCA Championship Tour events paying out to the top three high-scoring ladies who shoot the Main, FITASC, and 5-Stand. Competition was tough and the results were close: Champion, Reanna Frauens with a 448 x 500, Karen Shedd on 444 x 500 for the runner-up spot, and Madison Sharpe taking third with a 440 x 500. Congratulations to Reanna for some very consistent shooting throughout the weekend.

Wrapping it Up

Another great Regional event is in the books. Patti Hopkins and Linda handled all the pre-registration and worked the desk all of shoot week, ably assisted by Lois Neely and Amy Crow so everything inside ran like clockwork. George, Brad and Bart Hopkins were on the courses all day, every day keeping the flights running on time with no problems. Breakfast and lunch were served daily all five days including a special offering of delicious Maryland crabcake sandwiches for lunch on the weekend, always a great treat when you come here to shoot. Hopkins awarded beautiful Main Event and FITASC trophies to the winners and paid out over $109,000 in winnings. They hosted a shooters’ cocktail party on Friday night, and a banquet on Saturday evening with cocktails and dinner immediately following wrap-up of the Make-A-Break. Best of all, on the hot and muggy afternoons, their signature ice cream tents out on the courses were very popular stops. Kudos to the Hopkins team and a special thanks to Elite and Laporte for their sponsorships of the Regional Main Event and to Beretta for their sponsorship of the FITASC Grand Slam finale. Job well done! n