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2010 Preliminary Spring Grand

Tucson, AZ; By Mark Constantine
02/15-21/2010 James Foster and Mike Grady didn’t mind a nearly all-day rain Saturday during the 34th annual Amateur Trapshooting Association Preliminary Spring Grand at the Tucson Trap and Skeet Club. That’s because the pair managed to shoot in one of the breaks in the precipitation, resulting in triumphant performances. Foster, from Dallas, Texas, finished first in the Class AAA Singles. Foster is wheelchair-bound, but his vantage point didn’t stop him from hitting 198 of 200 targets. The 62-year-old retiree said he didn’t take up trapshooting until after losing use of his legs. He joked he doesn’t know or much care if standing up would make him a better shooter.
Grady, meanwhile, used his performance Saturday to help springboard him to the High All-Around crown, hitting 388 out of 400 targets in the Singles, Doubles and Sunday’s Handicap. Grady, who makes a living baling hay on 2,000 acres owned by a Navajo tribe in New Mexico, was almost owned by his wife, Kim. She finished one target behind him in Sunday’s Handicap event. But her score was good enough to take the Lady’s Handicap title. The week’s High Overall (HOA) championship went to Frank Hoppe, who hit 1,240 targets throughout the nearly week-long competition. While the weather took a turn for the worst Saturday and Sunday with cooler weather on Sunday following up Saturday’s wet stuff, Tucson Trap and Skeet Club General Manager Denny Ghormley and his staff had their facility in tip-top shape both days. Earlier in the week brilliant blue skies and temperatures in the mid-70s left the hundreds of competitors on hand glad the ATA choose Tucson for its event. Tucson Trap and Skeet Club Vice President Doug Sims noted the number of shooters was up this year, and throughout the week more than 212,000 targets were released. This week activity continues at the Tucson Trap and Skeet Club with the start of the ATA’s Spring Satellite Grand American. Sims expects even more shooters, and Grady noted the competition will stiffen up, pointing out the 388 targets he took out in the Preliminary Spring Grand won’t nearly cut it this week in the battle for the HAA.

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Class AAA HOA and HAA champ Mike Grady anxiously waits outside the Tucson Trap and Skeet Club for the last competitors to finish	Kim Grady, standing, has her hand on her husband Mike's shoulder as they watch a shootout Sunday	Lady Doubles Handicap, LouAnn Munson, Howard Lake, Minn.
Class C HOA, Class C Singles, Class B Doubles, Joe Dement, Oakfield, Tenn	Class A HOA, Natt Colman, Logandale, Utah	AA Singles, AA Doubles, Dean Walker, Grand Rapids, Minn
Veteran Handicap, Jerald Mitchell, Butte, Mont	Senior Veteran Handicap, Charles Courtney, McLouth, Kan	Class B HOA, Greg Holder, Kingman, AZ
Lady Handicap Championship, Farmington, N. M.; Mrs. Mike Grady

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