On Saturday, March 15, at the USAMU’s Krilling ranges on Ft. Benning, Ga. the CCMU Maroon Centerfire Team, firing Glock 34’s, won the SPP National Championship in the largest collegiate action shooting event ever held. Not only did the CCMU win the event and the title, but they crushed all previous SPP team records by firing a team score of 186.57 seconds. (An SPP team is a four person squad, the team score for the competition is the total time of the four individuals on the squad.)
Three of the four Maroon Centerfire Team members fired match scores below 50 seconds, a feat never before accomplished, and were lead by Senior Cadet Matt Hawes with the high overall match score of 41.88 seconds. The fourth member of the team, freshman cadet Parker Zaitz fired a score of 50.83 seconds. Senior Cadet Jordan Walker fired a score of 46.57 seconds (3rd Overall) and Sophmore Cadet Zach Williams fired a score of 47.64 seconds (6th Overall)…all personal bests and at the most important match of the year.
The CCMU’s Maroon Rimfire Team finished second overall at the match with a team score of 211 seconds, just four seconds behind the first place team. Leading the Maroon Rimfire Team was Sophmore Cadet Bryan Bonnette who fired the second fastest Rimfire score of the day, 46.96 seconds, just one half of one second behind the first place shooter. Cadet Bonnette’s score made him the 4th Overall shooter in the match.
Four of the top six individual scores fired at the event were by members of the CCMU.
The Commandant of Cadets at Texas A&M University, Brig. General Joe E. Ramirez, Jr USA(R) issued the following statement: “I am extremely proud of our cadets on the CCMU who represented our Corps and our University in such a professional manner last weekend in winning the 2014 SPP National Championship. Even though our CCMU is a relatively new unit, our cadets, under the expert tutelage of Coach Kevin Jimmerson ’89, have excelled to become one of the premier collegiate shooting teams in the country. We are all very proud of this significant accomplishment by our CCMU, and look forward to their continued success in the future.”
CCMU Coach Kevin Jimmerson of North Zulch, TX commented that “I cannot express how proud I am of this team. Or, how impressed I am with each of them for the way they have responded to the pressure of the most important match of the year.” Adding that, “The cadets on our team are the finest young men and women I could imagine spending time on the range with…they are dedicated and professional, but they never lose sight of the fact that we win and lose together as a team and they always focus on enjoying this sport and having fun as we work at it.”
The roster of CCMU cadets competing at the 2014 SPP Nationals is:
Maroon Centerfire:
Matt Hawes ’13 – Wylie, TX
Jordan Walker ’13 – Buna, TX
Trent Kirkpatrick ’14 – Spring, TX
Zach Williams ’16 – Weatherford, TX
Parker Zaitz ’17 – Willis, TX
Maroon Rimfire:
Bryan Bonnette ’16 – Weatherford, TX
Jason Cusack ’16 – Anchorage, AK
Cole Dunson ’16 – Tolar, TX
John Burton ’17 – The Woodlands, TX
White Rimfire:
Sierra Martin ’15 – Conroe, TX
Naomi Boyer ’16 – Blooming Grove, TX
Brendan Gould ’17 – Fort Worth, TX
Peter Miller ’17 – Missouri City, TX
The CCMU trains and competes in action shooting sports with other college teams and at 3Gun matches around the country, but it also works to grow participation in the shooting sports at all ages and among both men and women. The CCMU is very grateful to its industry sponsors for their support of this team and its activities both on and off the range. The cadets of the CCMU want to recognize all of the companies large and small who graciously sponsor the team for their continued support and also the team’s primary equipment sponsors Kryptek, Blade-tech, STI and Glock for the cutting edge gear they provide. Please take a moment to visit the Sponsor page on the CCMU web page and Thank these businesses for their support with business of your own.
The CCMU was officially formed in December of 2011, but today’s squad represents the latest in over 100 years of history of marksmanship teams competing for the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M. The CCMU fields competitors in the action pistol sports, steel pistol sports, 3Gun, highpower and international trap and skeet. Team members are drawn exclusively from the 2,300 men and women of the Corps of Cadets who are all undergraduates at Texas A&M. Scholarships and in-state tuition are also available for CCMU cadets. The cadets of the CCMU are supported and partially funded through the generous efforts of the Corps of Cadets Association ( http://www.corpsofcadets.org ) a private non-profit group committed to sustaining the 138 year old traditions of the Cadet Corps at Texas A&M. Please contact them to make a tax deductible donation on the teams behalf.