RWA Shooting Program Claims Fourth SCISA Title in Four Years
SOCIETY HILL – Richard Winn Academy’s boys sporting clay team brought home its fourth straight state championship Saturday at Moree’s Sportsman’s Preserve in Chesterfield County’s Society Hill.
The Eagles team of Charlie Bonds, Aaron Geddens, and J.T. Wilkes won with a total score of 256, surpassing second-place Hilton Head’s 245. Wilson Hall finished in third place with 243, Cardinal Newman took fourth at 236 and Thomas Heyward Academy finished fifth with 233.
“They’ve been shooting together four years, they just really work together well,” Sporting clays head coach Randy Wilkes said. “It just clicks when they get out there on the course. They complement each other.”
In sporting clay tournaments, team coaches are not allowed to talk to the shooters. Wilkes mentioned that Bonds, Geddens and Wilkes have been shooting together for so long that they act like each other’s coaches.
“These guys will talk to each other and joke with each other to lighten each other up,” Wilkes said. “When one misses they give each other some encouraging words and they start hitting them again. It’s really fun to watch them.”
Bonds won High Over All (HOA) honors with a score of 88. Wilkes’ score was 86 and Geddens score was 82.
For the team of Bonds, Wilkes, and Geddens, it was their second straight state championship win.
The Richard Winn ladies team of Lexi Coley, Ella Grace Harrison, and Abby Lewis finished in second place in their tournament with a score of 194. The Heathwood Hall ladies finished first with a score of 218.
Lewis won HOA in the ladies JV division with a score of 84. Harrison’s score was 73 and Coley’s score was 37.
Coley’s score may have been low compared to her teammates, but Wilkes said it’s because she’s a first-year shooter and the youngest on the team.
“She’s shooting in a division that’s much older than her. She and Abby (a sophomore) could be shooting in an easier division, but because Ella Grace is a senior, they have to shoot on a senior varsity course that’s much more difficult than courses for younger shooters.”
Lewis and Harrison were members of the 2022 Girls SCISA State Champion team with then-senior Mikaela Miller.
The Eagles will compete for the South Carolina Youth Shooting Foundation’s (SCYSF’s) state championship in Edgefield April 27.