Submitted by Bob Maffei
SAN ANTONIO, TX (MPG) – Two former Colusa County Youth Shooting Sports athletes concluded their collegiate shooting careers this spring while competing at the 2026 Association of College Unions International National Championship at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio.
Brandon Nord of William Penn University and Chase Carrere of Midland University returned to the national championship stage after years of competition that began in Colusa County youth shooting programs. Both athletes earned collegiate shooting scholarships and spent their college careers competing for nationally recognized programs.
The championship featured seven disciplines, including American Trap, American Skeet and Sporting Clays, drawing more than 6,200 competitors. The event was held at the National Shooting Complex, a 696-acre facility that includes dozens of trap and skeet fields.
Carrere turned in one of the tournament’s standout performances during the American Trap competition. Among 1,144 competitors, he posted a perfect 100-for-100 score, finishing with a national ranking of 29th. Only 35 shooters recorded perfect scores in the event.
Later in the tournament, Carrere impressed longtime coach and mentor Bob Maffei during the American Skeet competition.
“In my 63 years of shooting skeet and as a skeet instructor of some note, I have never witnessed what I would consider the perfect round of skeet until Chase posted an incredible performance with a 98/100 score,” Maffei wrote in an account of the event. “What led up to that target-crushing performance was truly an execution of excellence.”
Carrere finished his collegiate career by earning Second Team All-American honors.
Nord continued to compete despite suffering a thumb injury early in the tournament that later required treatment at a trauma center. Despite the setback, he remained in competition and posted scores in both American Trap Doubles and American Skeet Doubles.
Another former Colusa County Youth Shooting Sports athlete, Gus Armstrong, also competed at the national championship as a member of the Texas A&M University shooting team. Armstrong recorded strong performances in Super Sporting Clays and Skeet Doubles. Maffei noted that Armstrong previously achieved Master Class status in Sporting Clays while still among the youngest competitors to do so.
The team competition proved equally competitive.
William Penn University captured the 2026 Division II national championship, marking its fourth national title in the past six years. The team produced 11 All-Americans and more than 10 podium finishers. Midland University won the American Skeet Doubles national title, finished runner-up in American Trap Doubles and placed fifth in the High Overall standings.
For Maffei, who coached both athletes during their youth shooting careers, the championship represented more than a national competition.
“Sadly, as I typed this article, I realized that Brandon and Chase have broken their final targets as collegiate athletes,” Maffei wrote. “Both have represented their respective university as gentlemen and great athletes.”
The national championship marked the end of collegiate competition for both shooters, closing a chapter that began on local ranges in Colusa County and culminated on one of collegiate shooting sports’ largest stages.