Entering just its fourth season as a program, the Hillsdale College Action Shooting team has already racked up tremendous accomplishments.

In three national championship competitions, the Chargers have come away with a national title in at least one discipline every single time.

Now, as the sport they compete in continues to grow and expand at the collegiate level, Hillsdale is not only looking to keep up as a program, but to help drive that growth.

In previous seasons, Hillsdale competed in Steel Challenge competitions, firing rounds while stationary at steel targets. The Chargers' three national titles came in this discipline, competing at the Scholastic Action Shooting Program College Nationals in Talladega, Alabama.

For the 2024-25 season, Hillsdale is changing its focus to competition through the United States Practical Shooting Association, a format that has competitors navigate courses and fire at a variety of targets while on the move. The Chargers got their feet wet in USPSA matches with a handful of competitions last season, but plan on ramping things up considerably this year.

That includes working with the USPSA and sponsor Springfield Armory to host the first-ever USPSA Collegiate Championship in Hillsdale, Michigan on September 28 and 29. The national championship event will bring in collegiate action shooting teams and individual competitors from around the country to the Ailes Action Shooting Range at the John A. Halter Shooting Sports Education Center for a first-of-its-kind two-day event.

In putting on a national championship event, Hillsdale aims to super-charge the growth of the emerging and fast-growing sport of Action Shooting, while also bringing more attention to the sport itself.
As host of the inaugural championship, Hillsdale not only hopes to run a successful event but to capture the national title as well. The Chargers will have to replace two of their best shooters from last year's SASP title squad, graduated seniors Zechariah Steiger and Adam Bentley, but return several seasoned veterans, including seniors William Hudson and Alexander Vietor, who both placed highly for the Chargers at least season's national championship.

U.S. Army veteran Joseph Grohs and senior Taylor Chen also have a lot of experience on the competitive stage as well, and the Chargers are also competitive among women's shooters, with top three SASP College Nationals finishers Christina Lewis and Kayla Mullin also back on this year's squad.

Coach Adam Burlew will look to add to his veteran core with new faces when the school year starts in August. The Chargers have a busy fall schedule, with USPSA matches in Brooklyn, Michigan on Sept. 1 and Dorr, Michigan on Sept. 21, as well as a home USPSA event on Sept. 7 at the Ailes Action Shooting Range. All those competitions lead into the USPSA Collegiate Championships in the final weekend of September. You can find the full schedule for the fall here.