Leatham Wins 4th Straight USPSA Single Stack Nationals
SEDRO-WOOLLEY, Wash. — Springfield Armory’s Rob Leatham captured the 2009 U.S. Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) Single Stack National Championship this Saturday at the PASA Park range in Barry, Illinois. The match, which was sponsored by Illinois-based firearms maker Springfield Armory, drew more than 255 top 1911 shooters from around the country.
Despite winning just one of the 20 stages, Leatham led through the entire competition and finished with a final score of 1197.4090. The win represents Leatham’s 15th straight in the match that was previously known as the Single Stack Classic.
Team STI member and Chino, Calif., resident Michael Voigt rallied back from finishing ninth in 2008 to take second place. His final score of 1178.2523 put him just over 19 points behind Leatham.
Taran Butler of Simi Valley, Calif., claimed third for the second year in a row by winning four stages and posting a final score of 1161.7933. Earlier this year Butler defeated Leatham to win the Western States Single Stack Classic.
Rounding out the top five were Para USA’s Todd Jarrett of Hopewell, Va., and Smith & Wesson team shooter BJ Norris of Tyler, Texas, in fourth and fifth shooting 1151.1429 and 1112.6781 respectively.
The Single Stack Nationals was established in 1994 as the Single Stack Classic by pistolsmith Richard Heinie, and then USPSA Illinois Section Coordinator, Russell Cluver. The match was designed specifically for the 1911 model pistol and no other pistol design is permitted in the competition. In 2006 USPSA designated the popular match as a national championship and it has remained the preeminent showcase for the venerable 1911 ever since.
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About USPSA: The United States Practical Shooting Association is a non-profit membership association and the governing body for the sport of Practical Shooting in America. USPSA has over 17,000 members and more than 350 affiliated clubs which host weekly matches throughout the country providing recreational shooters with the opportunity to test and refine their shooting skills in a safe, competitive environment. USPSA is also the US Region of the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC), which is comprised of approximately 67 nations. For more information, visit www.uspsa.org.
