Category: Shooter Spotlight

Despite her young age, Lilly Kent has her sights set high. With dreams of joining Team USA, she diligently practices three times a week, determined to reach the pinnacle of her sport. Her impressive performance in the 2024 NSCA circuit, including a Main Event victory at Jack Links in February, underscores her potential.

As she embarks on her tournament journey, Lilly Kent's schedule is packed with prestigious events across the country. From the Jack Link’s Cup to the National Sporting Clays Championship, she embraces every opportunity to showcase her talent and passion for shooting.

Gage is also a three-time SCTP all scholastic team member and part of the Rhino Chokes Influencer Program. Gage loves Jesus, his family, and his pets. Always smiling, Gage is a compassionate, hard working and humble kid who is always ready to help others. He has made many friends in the sporting clay community throughout these last four years and always enjoys meeting new people. Although he knows he has been blessed with a lot of natural ability, his parents point out that his determination and work ethic on the course is what’s helped him to excel. Besides a busy competition schedule and practice regimen, he also maintains a 4.87 GPA, which is amongst the top in his class. 

While he was on the youth shooting team, Turner won multiple SC state Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP), South Carolina Youth Shooting Foundation (SCYSF), and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) titles in skeet, trap, and sporting clays. During his youth shooting career, he won the National SCTP Intermediate HOA title and was a 2x National SCTP Varsity HOA Runner-Up. Turner was honored to be chosen to represent the SC 4-H program at the National competition. He is the first SC youth competitor to win an individual 4-H National HOA title which led his team to be the first ever SC team to win the HOA team award.

In NSCA, he is a 5x All-American, and is a 2-time member of the USA Sporting Clay Junior team. NSCA blasts titles include 2022 Caribbean Classic HOA, 2023 East Coast Championship HOA, and state titles including the 2023 North Carolina (NC) State HOA and South Carolina (SC) State Champion. 2024 is off to a great start with a Master 1st finish at the Caribbean Classic, Jack Links, Seminole Cup, and Master 4th finish at the Western Regional, and Gator Cup Junior 2nd with a positive mindset moving into the next set of upcoming competitions. 

Blaize Whitehead currently shoots a Beretta DT-11. This DT-11 came to him as a surprise when he won it at the first ever Jack Link’s Cup hosted at Quail Creek Sporting Ranch, Florida. For eyewear, he chooses the Pilla x7 frames paired with three different lenses. One of the lenses is a dark purple lenses which he uses in bright light conditions, second he uses a clear lens with a tint of green which is great for shooting at night, and lastly he uses an orange lens for use on cloudy days. His favorite go to shell is the Winchester AA 1oz 1290fps #7.5 shot. For ear protection, he uses Electronic Shooters Protection Elite Digital Ear Plugs that he was lucky to win at the 2024 Gator Cup hosted at Backwoods Quail Club, SC. For chokes, his choice is a pair of extreme twenty chokes which him emphasizes patterns great paired with his Beretta DT-11. In 2022, Blaize became part of Team BAREPELT and he proudly sports their custom vest. 

The turning point came in 2023 when Jacob participated in the Gator Cup at BWQC. From being an E Class shooter, he ascended through the ranks, culminating in his elevation to the prestigious AA Class by the year's end. His accomplishments were nothing short of remarkable, including securing a coveted spot on Team USA for Alternate-Sub Junior FITASC —a feat unheard of for someone starting from the bottom ranks.

The year 2024 dawned with Jacob's rise continuing unabated. His performances at tournaments like the Jack Links Cup and the Seminole Cup showcased his prowess, earning him titles and accolades across various categories. Under the mentorship of Brandon Powell, Jacob's ascent to the Master Class seemed inevitable.

Will worked tirelessly to maintain great grades and stay focused to shoot over the next several years.  During this time, we sought out coaches to help him excel in the shooting field.  We met and began lessons with Will Fennell at Fennell Shooting School.  Will Fennell showed us the ropes of registering for “big” shoots.  We finally started shooting events in other states and realized a lot of other people were in this sport.  In 2017, Will won the Virginia State Championship C1 and SJCH 12GA, C1 and SJCH Super Sporting, and then (our biggest event yet) he won the Southeast Regional SJRU 12GA., and boy did we realize at the Southeast that we really did have a lot to learn! 

As Will got older, Coach Fennell helped him set goals for him to start working towards. Will wanted his hit percentage to increase, to attend more shoots, to increase his registered targets, to increase his practice time, and to start helping younger people with the sport.  These goals led to more success. In 2018, Will accomplished:  shooting 4600 registered targets and moving from B class to AA; winning East Coast Championship B1 and SJCH Super Sporting, B2 and SJRU 12GA, B4 and SJRU Main; winning North Carolina State Championship SJCH Super Sporting, B1 and SJCH 12GA, SJRU Main; winning Northeast Regional & Masters Cup A2 and SJCH 12GA; winning Georgia State Championship A1 and SJRU Prelim; winning NWTF Shoot SJRU Prelim, A2 and SJRU Super Sporting, A1 and SJCH 12GA, A3 Main; winning South Carolina State Main AA2 and JRRU FITASC, AA1 and SJRU Main; winning Southeast Regional AA2 12GA; winning Virginia State Championship AA3 and SJCH Super Sporting, SJRU Main; and placing on the North Carolina Sub Junior State Team.