Addison Callan Info - Written By Jim Callan

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smokem
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Addison Callan Info - Written By Jim Callan

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Addison and I just got back from the 100th Annual NC State Trap Shoot. Some of you may recall that last year Addison set North Carolina and trap shooting history by becoming the first North Carolina Sub Junior shooter to win a state Singles Championship and go on to also win the High All Around trophy. The High All Around or HAA is the highest score for the Championship Singles, Handicap and Doubles events for major competitions. The HAA is defined as the overall state champion. Within states their most important competition is their state shoot.

Last year Trap & Field featured several youth shooters that had won several individual events for their respective shoots and he was featured on the cover of Trap & Field magazine. I contacted them to have them research the precedent of a youth winning a Championship Singles and HAA and found that it had been accomplished only three times. The last time was 12 years ago and before that 10 years earlier. One of the shooters died a few years ago and the other is a well known AAA shooter. AAA shooters are the top in the world.

Most of this year Addison and I had taken off and not attended many shoots. Chasing major competitions across the country and earning two All American Team spots had made us both weary. For the last several years at his request I had taken over his coaching and been shooting on all of his squads. It has been a wild ride for both of us and we both deserved a break during his freshman year in High School. So I spent most of the Fall, Winter and Spring coaching other new shooters and he focused on school.

Wednesday started the 100th Annual NC State Trap Shoot where Addison would be the returning singles champion defending his title. He still had exams so I went to the competition alone so that at least one of us could shoot the Thursday Addison Callan Singles Championship preliminary event that the NCTA had graciously named after him. It would have been a shame if neither of us were there to shoot it. Although I would have liked to win the event, I am much more sensitive to regular practice and although scoring a few birds above my average, dropped 5 for a respectable 95/100, but a few shy of what it takes to win my class in a state shoot. While there nearly all shooters asked about Addison and I kept telling them that he would be there to shoot the Class Championship and State Championship events on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

He stunned everyone by repeating a 199/200 to tie two Hall of Fame shooters: George Brown and Charlie Brown. Charlie is a 2013 All American Senior Veteran shooter and George Brown is one of the top Veteran shooters in NC. Although both Addison and George dropped a single target, permitting Charlie to win the coveted NC Singles Championship for 2013, all felt that Addison defended his title well. Addison fell back to NC Singles Sub Junior Champion and is eligible to shoot in the Champion of Champions at the World Championships. Sunday he topped this performance by winning the NC State Doubles Sub Junior title and shooting an amazing 98/100 in the NC State Handicap in the rain. When all was over with he was again declared HAA for the 100th Annual NC State Championship and retains the title of the top shooter in North Carolina for the second year in a row. This win establishes him as the only youth under 16 to have ever won HAA in a state in the history of the sport.

The Trap & Field photographer had us gather many of the trophies he won during this shoot for a final photo which I have included below. Please join our family at congratulating Addison (and coach) for all his hard work (and the battle scars that he bears for his victory). As a minor side note...Jim and Addison Callan won the Parent & Child trophy for the 100th Annual NC State Trap Shoot as well...so I did come home with something.
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