The 2021 action shooting season wrapped up in the first two weeks of December with back to back state-level championship matches in Floriday. First was the Florida State Steel Challenge, followed the next weekend by the Florida USPSA Section Championship.
There’s no formal definition for when the action shooting season runs. In some places matches run year round, thanks to seaonsable shooting weather all year. With national championships spread out through the year at different times, it would be difficult to nail down a specific start and end time for the 2021 action shooting season. However, we can definitely say that, along with the IDPA Sheepdog CCP Championship, the Florida Steel Challenge and USPSA Section matches are the last major matches on the calendar each year.
Florida State Steel Challenge Championship
For those not familiar, Steel Challenge consists of 8 stages of all steel targets. Shooters fire five strings of fire on each stage, except for Outer Limits, which consists of four strings. The shooter’s worst run is thrown out each stage, and then the times are added up for full score. The 2021 action shooting season’s final Steel Challenge match featured all 8 stages. Here are the highlights from the match:
- Overal Pistol Champion: Doeg Koenig, Open
- Ladies Champion: Alecia Russell, Carry Optics
- PCC Champion: Jeff Jones, PCC Optics
- Rimfire Pistol Champion: Reagan Hearn, Rimfire Optics
- Rimfire Rifle Champion: Peter Parfinik, Rimfire Rifle Optics
A note on Alecia Russell winning the overal High Lady in the pistol divisions. There were only two female entrants in centerfire pistol, both of which were Alecia. She ran her Carry Optics gun and her Open gun. However, she deserves recognition regardless, because she finished second overall in the centerfire pistol divisions. In fact, she finished second AND fourth. Her second place score in Carry Optics was 10 seconds faster than third place, and 13 seconds faster than fifth place. That’s an impressive performance no matter what.
Florida USPSA Section Championship
Closing out the USPSA portion of the 2021 action shooting season is the Florida Section Championship. 230 shooters attended this tough match, held in scenic New Smyrna Beach, FL. The tightest battle of the match was in the Carry Optics division, USPSA’s hottest division. Grandmaster Sean Griffith edged Breno Lima by 2.5% to take home the win. Here are the rest of the winners by division:
- Open: Tom Castro
- Carry Optics: Sean Griffith
- Limited: Gorka Ibanez
- PCC: Brian Harrington
- Single Stack: Nelson Colon
- Production: Sal Luna
- High Lady Overal: Kenzie Fitzpatrick, PCC division
With that, the 2021 action shooting season comes to a close. Many shooters will take January off from training, and maybe pop in to a club match here or there weather permitting. Southern shooters shouldn’t get too out of practice, since the Florida State IDPA Championship kicks off January 15th in Central Florida!
