Bay Area teens claim championship in trap shooting

LAND O' LAKES, Fla. (FOX 13) - Tampa Bay Sporting Clays has put together one sharp shooting team. They're the top ranked Junior Olympic trap shooting club in the country.

Jack Brousseu is 17 and glad to be back home after winning gold at the National Junior Olympics in Colorado Springs, Colorado. 

"It felt really good," said Brousseu, who just graduated from Durant High School. "All the hard work finally paid off."

His teammate, Tony Meola, at 14 took home both the Junior Olympic title and National Shotgun Championship for his age group. An impressive accomplishment for an 8th-grader, who just took up this sport two years ago.

"I never really expected it," said Meola, who is a rising freshman at Osceola High. "I didn't have a great first day."

It was a nice surprise finish.

"Yeah, pretty much," laughed Meola.

Olympic trap shooting is the most challenging in this sport. There are only two bunkers like this in the state of Florida. The main difference is that the clays can take flight from three different machines at twice the speed of American trap which launches from one single location. 

So what's the key to becoming a successful trap shooter?

"Good eye-sight," laughed Daryl Patrick. "That why you see these kids doing it so well and you don't see us older guys doing this."

 Jack and Tony are taking aim at loftier goals.

"All the way to the Olympics," said Brousseu. "Hopefully multiple times."

For more information, visit http://www.tampabayclays.com/.