Kieran Christey and Hugo Helmore win top clay target titles
03 Oct 2023
Standout clay target shooters Kieran Christey and Hugo Helmore have been crowned national champions at the North Island and New Zealand Secondary School Clay Target Shooting Championships in Hamilton.
Held in challenging conditions, the championship event has attracted more than 315 students from about 60 New Zealand schools.
Kieran has won the New Zealand Down-the-line National High Gun with the highest individual score in the championship. He has also won the High Over All in the national Single Barrel event, as well as finishing 1st in the NZ Points Score event.
At the conclusion of the championships, Kieran has been presented with the Crafts-Wright Cup for the highest secondary schools aggregate score in Canterbury for the 2023 season.
Hugo has claimed the New Zealand Skeet Championship HOA, following on from the same success for a College shooter the previous year.
After earlier narrowly missing out on a placing in the North Island Points Teams event and powered by an outstanding team effort, Christ’s College – featuring title winners Kieran and Hugo, alongside top performers Will Gould, Jack Richardson, and Harrison Johnstone – has finished second in the New Zealand Points Score Teams event.
Meanwhile, Harrison has put in an impressive performance in the NZ Single Rise event, making his way through a hotly contested shoot-off to finish in 1st place, just behind the HOA for the event. Harrison’s Single Rise performance has also secured 1st place in the NZ Kilwell Single Rise Trophy contest, along with a 50 target long run badge.
In the North Island Championships, Jack Richardson has finished 3rd in the junior Single Barrel event and Hugo has finished 8th in the Kilwell Single Rise Trophy match. Flynn Price has shot a personal best in the Open Single Barrel event and progressed through to the shoot-off stage while Harry Wilson has recorded a personal best in the junior Points Score event, narrowly missing an opportunity to go through to the junior shoot-off round.
Hugo, Kieran, and Harrison were selected for the five-person South Island DTL team to compete against the North Island. Kieran and Hugo were also selected for the North Canterbury Fish & Game team that claimed the runner-up spot in the Regional Teams match.
Several College clay target shooters have recorded personal bests at the championships, including Thomas Saunders (Points Score), Flynn Price (Single Barrel in the North Island and NZ championships), Oliver Skene (Single Rise), Kieran Christey (Points Score), Sam Nicholl (Points Score), Hugo Helmore (Points Score), and Harry Wilson (Single Rise and Points Score).
