Sharp-Shooter: Columbus boy wins national championship title

Preston Bailey, 13, of Columbus, recently won the title of National Champion in the Intermediate Division at the Scholastic Clay Target Program competition in Columbus, Ohio. The 2,369 athletes from 24 states that competed shot 876,000 clay targets over the course of the 8-day event.
Bailey shot back-to-back rounds of 98 out of 100 in skeet and beat 132 of the best shooters in the U.S. to win the title.
The Smokin Guns squad, including Bailey and Laurel boys Conner Bergman and Chase Stirm, placed second in skeet doubles,
fifth in skeet and sixth in sporting clays. Bergman was the skeet doubles champion.
“The ironic thing is Montana had only a handful of athletes, while some states had over 250 boys and girls competing on their teams,” said Preston’s father, Jim Bailey, the director of the Montana Scholastic Clay Target Program. “Shooting sports is a culture here in Montana, and the SCTP strives to develop young people not only in safe handling of firearms but the value of competition while developing life skills.”
Preston lives on a ranch, where he bales hay, drives the feed truck and handles cattle. He started sport shooting when he was eight and gave up all other sports to focus on sport shooting.
His goal is to win a sport shooting scholarship for college and even compete in the Olympics. He is currently sponsored by Scheels All Sports.
“He shot 400 to 500 rounds a week for two months prior to departing for the nationals,” Jim said. “During the weeklong competitions, he and his fellow teammates fired over 1,200 rounds, including practice.”
Preston was also the top youth competitor at the Top Shot competition at the Blue Creek Sport Shooting Complex in Billings on July 30-31, beating all the adults, including veterans, in rifle, pistol, shotgun, archery and slingshot/hatchet throwing.