Clay Pigeon Shooter Shoots and Scores!
Third year Zoology student, Ben Mcilwaine, brought home the gold at the British Universities Clay shooting Championship (BUCC) on the 6th of December 2015.
Ben took first place in a Championship with 349 other competitors and 150 spectators. He achieved a final score of 89 out of 100, pretty impressive! Ben was the only representative of Derby University to compete in the Championship, whereas other universities have between 20 and 40 competitors. Even after competing in tough conditions and 50mph winds on Saturday, he still managed to win the Championship.
Ben has been clay shooting competitively for 3 years, and was first bitten by the bug when he went with his Dad at the age of 12. He has competed nationally and internationally in his sport.
“The great thing about clay pigeon shooting is it’s a friendly sport and anyone can do it.” says Ben. When asked what the best part of the sport is, his response was, “The winning is definitely the best part.”
Sports Participation Co-ordinator, Anton Orlandi, said, “Ben is the first student to represent Derby University in clay shooting, and his win has gained us 12 BUCS points on the table.” The BUCS covers over 140 Universities. Ben’s championship victory has taken Derby from 104 to 58 on the leaderboard. “We’re hoping that this win will encourage more students here to take up the sport.” says Orlandi.
Ben is currently the only student at Derby University participating in this sport, if anyone would like to get involved or find out more about the sport, then you can email Ben at: b.mcilwaine1@unimail.derby.ac.uk.
