• Seven top 10 finishes for Southland’s Charliese Erskine at world skeet shooting championships in United States

Southland shooter Charliese Erskine is already targeting next year’s world championships after impressing on debut in the United States earlier this month.

The SBS Bank Academy Southland Foundation Year athlete returned home with seven top 10 placings across her two major competitions.

“It was a cool experience and a cool place,” Erskine said.

“I was pretty happy with how I went, especially considering the level of competition - the girls over there were just next level. I’ve never shot against girls with that much talent - a lot of girls I was versing have shot at multiple world events and they train all the time.”

Competing in the junior world championships’ women’s under 19 category, Charliese’s best placing were fourths in the 28 gauge and 20 gauge competitions.

Because she hadn’t competed in enough United States events to qualify for the top category in the world championships, she instead shot in the women’s 2 division, winning the 28 gauge section, finishing runner up in the 20 gauge and fifth in the 410 gauge.

Charliese also finished eighth across the men and women in the High Overall competition, which includes results across all the categories.

“I’ve really only been shooting for three years so I’m relatively new to the sport compared with a lot of other girls.”

The heat in San Antonio, Texas, with temperatures approaching 40degC, was something to contend with for Charliese, who is more used to battling the cold at the Southland Gun Club near Invercargill.

“I actually coped pretty well with it. Through the Academy we had done hot yoga and I feel like that helped me really well with the mindset and coping. I also did a lot of mental management with the Academy before I left and I think that helped too - thinking more about the process than the outcome.”

The junior worlds are being held in Florida next July, while the national skeet championships get underway in two months’ time.

Article added: Friday 13 October 2023