2012 USPSA Area 3 Championship

Team Hornady® won three division titles at the Hornady®-sponsored 2012 USPSA Area 3 Regional Handgun Championship held August 2 through 5, at the Heartland Public Shooting Park in Grand Island, Nebraska. The Level 3 match featured first-ever live video coverage of the 260 competitors' shooting performances, which were then uploaded to social media outlets highlighting the event.

Title defender, Max Michel, won the Open Division, taking six of the 14 stages shooting Hornady® 125 grain HAP® bullets in his 9mm pistol. "Not only do I count on Hornady bullets to be reliable and accurate," said Michel, "but I know they'll give me the competitive edge I need at a Level 3 match." He was especially impressed with the match's creative stages. "Long range steel targets were painted the same color as the background, which made them difficult to see," he said.

Blake Miguez returned to the Area 3 match enjoying a back-to-back victory to reclaim his title in the Limited Division, winning five of the 14 stages, shooting Hornady® 200 grain XTP® 40 caliber projectiles. "The 200 grain XTP performed consistently on all of the match's wide variety targets," said Miguez, "especially the close range and long range targets out to 42 yards." His aggressive strategy included maintaining accuracy during super fast movements on every stage.

Team Hornady® member, Jessie Duff, earned special congratulations by winning the High Lady Open division. She won 12 of the 14 stages as a first time competitor in the Area 3 match, shooting Hornady® 124 grain 9mm XTP® bullets in her pistol. "Since this was my first USPSA match of the year," Duff explained, "I knew the 124 grain, 9mm Hornady XTP bullet would produce winning results, and it did."

Match Director Sherwyn Greenfield returned to deliver a challenging course of fire, introducing a triple swinger target built on a steel framework, with two pivot points using standard paper metric targets. As usual, Greenfield added his personal touch to each stage, forcing competitors to shoot from a variety of positions that were technically challenging, and required a solid shooting strategy.