Young shotgun shooters from across Arizona earned state titles - with many qualifying to represent Arizona at upcoming national championships - at last weekend's Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) Arizona Commissioner's Cup Trap State Championship.

The competition, held April 28 at the Red Mountain Trap & Skeet club in Scottsdale, featured some of Arizona's top young shooters in varsity, junior varsity, intermediate and rookie divisions.

SCTP, for youths in grades 12 and under, has been called the "Little League of shooting sports." More than 10,000 students in over 40 states are expected to compete in 2007. A program of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, SCTP is managed in partnership with numerous sponsors, agencies and organizations, like the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

The top teams in the state title shoot qualified for their sport's upcoming national championships.

Trap national championships are slated for Aug. 5-7 at the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta, Ill. Last year, more than 1,600 youths from around the nation competed at the event.

The best of these young shooters could be selected to attend an Olympic development camp in August in Colorado Springs, and some will go on to compete at the collegiate level.

For more information, visit the National Shooting Sports Foundation website at www.nssf.org/sctp.

SCTP Arizona Commissioner's Cup Trap State Championship results:

Varsity Division (Grades 9 to 12)

1st Place—Southern Apache County Shotgun Shooters, 844 out of 1,000 targets (Travis Bickford of Springerville, Tyrell Brown of Eagar, Christopher Hoyt of St. Johns, Tim Hoyt of St. Johns, Philip Risser of Springerville).

2nd Place—Not awarded.

3rd Place—Not awarded.

Junior Varsity Division (Grades 9 to 12)

1st Place—Red Mountain Target Terminators No. 1, 941 out of 1,000 targets (Garret Cobbs of Laveen, Justin Williams of Gilbert, Kaitlyn C. Borie of Phoenix, Hayden Edgmon of Queen Creek, Justin A. Ruggiero of Mesa).

2nd Place—Huachuca Hot Shots, 894 (Brielle Eaton of Sierra Vista, Brisden Eaton of Sierra Vista, Matthew L. Lainhart of Sierra Vista, Matthew Ojerio of Sierra Vista, David DeSplinter of Hereford).

3rd Place—Ben Avery Clay Crushers, 865 (Austin Elbert of Waddell, Brett J. Hoeppner of Cave Creek, Lane Shank of Phoenix, Lucas Feringa of Glendale, Phillip D. Mongeon of Phoenix).

Intermediate Division (Grades 6 to 8)

1st Place—Red Mountain Target Terminators No 1, 892 out of 1,000 targets (Kyle Joseph Sutter of Apache Junction, Nathan G. Kempton of Queen Creek, Kyle Johnson of Phoenix, Chase Perry of Phoenix, Tanner E. Kempton of Queen Creek).

2nd Place—Ben Avery Clay Crushers, 841 (Mack Gibson of Phoenix, Chase A. Karvanek of Anthem, John Heim of Glendale, Kyle Matthew Hajek of Cave Creek, Shelby Shank of Phoenix).

3rd Place—Red Mountain Target Terminators No. 3, 781 (Ryan Kelly Bollinger of Phoenix, Hayden Jorde of Queen Creek, Quinton Moore of Higley, Christopher Vansickle of Glendale, Klay Wandelear of Queen Creek).

Rookie Division (Grades 5 and under)

1st Place—Ben Avery Clay Crushers, 387 of 500 targets (Casey Coleman of Goodyear, Dylan Karvanek of Anthem, Taylor K. Saunders of New River, Paysen Unger of Phoenix, Mitchell Jones of Glendale).

2nd Place—Central Arizona Target Shooters, 323 (Steven Shedd of Eloy, Austin Edwin Bradford of Casa Grande, Ray Kesler III of Case Grande, Davis Isaac of Casa Grande, Cory Cuevas of Casa Grande).

3rd Place—Chandler Rod and Gun, 307 (Everett Austin Barnes Gilbert, Logan Kolodziej of Apache Junction, Austin Lee Madson of Mesa, Peter Mettler of Scottsdale, Kent Everett Thomas of Mesa).