2011 Shootout at the Crossroads

Although shooting hoops is on everyone’s mind right now with the 2011 NCAA Tournament March Madness going on, these individuals are practicing a different kind of shooting for their own “Big Dance” – and it’s one fierce competition.

The scores are posted from the Shootout at the Crossroads, a collegiate shoot sponsored by Kansas State University and held in Lenexa, KS at the Powder Creek Shooting Range, which took place earlier this month.

View the Final Scores Here

This annual event is one of the largest collegiate shoots in the nation with more than 190 competitors. It was a cold, windy and blustery weekend and only the most competitive shooters could “hold up” in these conditions. Still, some of the scores were amazingly close.

Shooting sports is an obsession with some and recreation to others. The furthest distance a completive team traveled to be in the tournament was from Virginia Tech. Their spring break followed the tournament which made for a nice unhurried return home. Others traveled a good distance to compete too. For example, Purdue University and the University of Wyoming had some major windshield time.

There were two Iowa squads competing; University of Northern Iowa Panthers and Iowa State Cyclones. One team from the University of Nebraska Omaha attended. University of Missouri (Columbia) and University of Missouri Science & Technology from Rolla, University of Central Missouri and Lindenwood University represented the state of Missouri. The Oklahoma State squad and Eastern Oklahoma University team made their ways north to Kansas City, and from the west was Colorado State University. The great state of Kansas was well represented by K-State, Fort Hays State and Pratt Community College in KS.

This is an expensive sport for these students. Most generally shooting sports at the university level is a club sport and therefore they receive no university funds. These clubs do fundraisers, apply to grants and pay out-of-pocket to be a part of the team competition. Travel expenses are enormous these days with price of gas and cost of overnight accommodations. Then take into consideration the price of ammo for practice rounds and competition.

Even though these individuals are fierce competitors at the range, many of the team members are very good friends and look forward to seeing each other at collegiate shooting events throughout the school year. It wasn’t unusual to see big hugs from competitive shooters and a thrill of excitement to reunite.

Many of these students have competed since very young ages and won many awards a long the way. Some of these students search for a university where shooting comes first prior to their academic endeavors. Some are so competitive as to be Olympic hopefuls.