Continental League Results for 2012

Report by Dave Sypher

Gig Harbor was runner up again this year but we made a great effort just the same!

The high 5 for the club team for this year are:

Mike Levanger ( 658 / 700 )

Dave Sypher ( 655 / 700 ) 744 / 800

Jeff Vanwagner  ( 655 / 700 )

George Clark ( 632 / 700 )

John Scouler ( 588 / 700 )

With a lot of help from  Grant Lau, John Neitzel, Pete Mitchell, Toby Patton,  Lavonne Sigler, Larry Weeks,  Kirk Forman, and (Van) Vanwagner.

Club members won:

Class A first place  Mike Levanger  658 / 700

Class E first place Dean Miller  560 / 700

Veterans class first place Dave Sypher  332 / 350

Sub Jr first place George Clark  307 / 350

Sub Jr third place Kirk Forman 268 / 350, Not bad for a new shooter.

We had a great banquet and awards ceremony, almost everyone who stayed until the end won a door prize.

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Past PITA Competitions and News

2009 PITA Update

After a successful conclusion to the 2008 competitive shotgun season at our Club's signature seafood feast in September, club shooters survived the long cold winter to begin the 2009 registered PITA (Pacific Int'l Trapshooting Association) year with the first state championship tournament in Februrary. The fact that this tournament is held in Hilo, Hawaii makes the start of the season more exciting for the visiting mainland shooters. From Gig Harbor, the group of Don Davies, Grant lau, Mike Levanger, and Tony Tebeau made the trip. After a week of shooting, shooters returned home with five trohpies, a tan, and more stories.

Back in the gray drizzle of the Pac NW spring, March and April had Gig Harbor shooters competing at Poulsbo Gun Club, and Seattle Skeet and Trap in Ravensdale. It was lots of fun, but no 'iron'. In April and May as the weather improved and so did scores. At Bremerton Trap and Skeet several club members won trophies; Pete Mitchell went home with a couple, as did Mike Levanger. Le Rodenburg, Dave Sypher, Bob Wallin, Don Davies, Grant Lau, and Mike Levanger all won ammunition during the shoot. Grant Lau was High Overall Champion for the tournament. In May, John Fowler, Don Davies, Dave Sypher, Mike Levanger, and Grant Lau shot at the Memorial Day weekend tournament at Evergreen Sportsman's Club in Little Rock, WA. There were no trohies awarded at this shoot, just cash as prizes. All of the Gig Harbor shooters could look forward to receiving a check in the mail. Grant Lau was High Overal Champion for the second tournament in a row, and along with his check came a Form 1099 tax statement.

Into the month of June, Club shooters go to Black Diamond WA, then to Coulee City Gun Club in eastern Washington. The ATA State Championship will be in Spokane in June, but so will the Hawaii State ATA Championships. Gig Harbor will have shooters at all these major tournaments. Results will follow after the end of month.

Best Shoot of the Year !

That’s what Shooters were saying by the end of our annual PITA Seafood Shoot held Sept 26, 27 & 28.

Participants came from as far away as California, Alaska, and Hawaii. In all, a total of 83 shooters registered throughout the weekend. While it wasn’t the highest ever attendance for this shoot, it mirrored last year. Considering that PITA Shoot attendance elsewhere in the state has run 10% - 15% below last year, this is a significant accomplishment. During the course of the shoot we threw 25,900 registered targets.

Taking honors were Dave Sypher and Bob Wallin who each took first in their classes for doubles; Mike Levanger who took second is his class for doubles; Pete Mitchell who took third in his yardage group in the second handicap event; and Don Davies who won the Sunday afternoon handicap event. Congratulations to all, with special recognition to Pete, as this was the first PITA Shoot Pete competed in!

The signature event for the weekend was Saturday’s Seafood & Potluck dinner. The club provided Grilled and Smoked Salmon, Halibut Poppers, Ling Cod Poppers, Tempura Vegetables, Smoked Salmon Spread w/ crackers, Clams, and Oysters. Add to that the variety of potluck dishes provided by many and it was a feast that was well attended and well appreciated. Tasty food and camaraderie combined to create yet another memorable occasion.

But the real heroes were those that spent endless hours preparing for and putting on the shoot - without whom we could never have achieved such a high level of success. Appreciation goes to Dawn Bauer, Mary-Jane Carter, Maddie Cheyney, John Cheyney, Don Davies, Tom Davis, Art Fenton, Grant Lau, Mike Levanger, Bruce MacDonald, Carolyne Nicodemus. Chuck Nicodemus, Jeff Olson. Dave Olson, Ben Pearson, Jerry Premo, Darline Sypher. Dave Sypher, Tony Tebeau, H.C. VanWagner, our Trap Staff Peter Baird, Travis Collins, Brandon Dotson, and Jeff for their individual roles in this great success.

A special thanks to the group from The Peninsula High School Marching Band who were our scorekeepers.

Until next year…

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April 21, 2008

Gig Harbor PITA shooters continue to attend area shoots and compete well. In April club members registering targets included Don Davies, John Fowler, Art Fenton, Grant Lau, Mike Levanger, Rudy Martinak, Dave Sypher, Tony Tebeau, and Frank Treese. Results from the various clubs include: Sumner, where Grant and Mike took home trophies: at Seattle Trap and Skeet Don, John, Grant, Mike and Rudy all won trophies. Dave Sypher attended and registered his first PITA targets for the year. AT Poulsbo Art, Grant, and Tony won trophies. Shooting in April winds up at Bremerton Trap and Skeet the weekend of 4/26.

Ducks Unlimited also hosted an event at Gig Harbor in April. There were 49 shooters that took on the challenging sporting clays layout set up at the Club. Shooters shot a total of 100 rounds spread across 10 different stations. Shooting at clays from behind trees and darting between bushes, or bouncing across the ground is a whole lot different than having the targets come out of a trap house. Scores ranged from 80/100 to 11/100 for the shooters, but the important thing was everyone enjoyed shooting the course.

Gig Harbor Shooters in Aloha State

March 1, 2008

Five Gig Harbor shooters led a contingent of fourteen shooters from Washington State making up one third of all the shooters in Hilo, Hawaii at the 2008 Hawaii PITA Championships. Don Davies, John Fowler, Grant Lau, Mike Levanger, and Tony Tebeau returned home with six of the 21 trophies won by shooters from Washington. Scores were very competitive, and there were no "cheap" wins in any event. The tone for scores seemed to be set on the very first day in a preliminary handicap event when Gig Harbor shooter, Grant Lau fired a winning score of 97/100 from the 27 yard line. From then on, event champions shot scores like 100/100 in singles, 97/100 in doubles, and so on. In the heat of this intense competition, shooters returning home with "iron" are justifiably proud of their achievements.

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Gig Harbor Shot Gun Shooters Do Well in PITA

Don Davies, Rudy Martinak, and Grant Lau made the Washington list of competitors shooting at the most PITA targets; Don @ 7,800 and Rudy & Grant @ 7,300 each.

Mike Levanger and Tony Tebeau made the list of high averaging Veterans Class Washington shooters.

Grant made the PITA 2007 All Star Team, the Washington State High Overall Team, and Washington State high average list.
The PITA All Star Team is selected from all the competing PITA shooters, from all states, during the year.  Over 5,000 individuals shot at over 4.5 million PITA targets in 8 western states and B.C. in 2007.  Shooters must compete at five or more different club locations, and compete in the Grand Pacific Championship. All registered targets are counted with a minimum number of qualifying targets being 2,000 Singles, 1,500 Handicap, and 1,000 Doubles.  The composite average for all targets is then used, and the High Overall Average (HOA) is used to select team members.

Stay tuned for more results!

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5 GHSC shooters are heading to Hawaii for the Hawaii State Championships and various Inner Island Shoots.

John Fowler and Rudy Martinak are WSPITA Directors, and are listed in the year book.

In addition to the sport of competition came the fun of food and fellowship. Along with demonstrating shooting prowess, Gig Harbor showed its experience in organizing an award winning potluck BBQ. John Fowler and Mike Levanger BBQ'd Hawaiian style ribs, Don Davies kept the ribs coming and going to hungry mouths, and Tony Tebeau played bartender. The following day, the less disciplined party goers paid the price for a fun night before. But score well or not, everyone had a great time.

Some of the highlights the first time attendees will remember of going to Hilo in 2008 include the "full moon rising over Mauna Kea". (aka, Tony on his hotel balcony bent over with no pants on?) Or, maybe it will be Don Davies and his GPS navigation system with a female voice named "Edith". With the trap range less than five miles from the hotel, "Edith" managed to get Don and his passengers lost in the garbage dump near the range.

So along with the shooting competition, the memories of fun and fellowship in Hilo, Hawaii will long outlive the shine on any of the metal anyone brought home. And in the end, isn't that what counts? I wonder how many will be returning to Hilo next year? I'm sure Gig Harbor will be well represented again in 2009.