World English Championship Results
Former standout competitor and graduate assistant Russell Malterud is a world champion. The native of North Branch, Minn., can make that claim after he rose to the top of the ‘A’ Class preliminaries and the super sporting competition at the 2022 World English Sporting Clays Championship held at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio, Texas, April 19-24. Malterud also placed in the top 25 high overall in his class while going up against many of the best shooters from all over the world.
The World English Championship first began in the United Kingdom and alternates host sites between the UK and the United States every other year. The tournament features a 200-target main sporting clays event, along with 100-target old-style FITASC, Super Sporting, NSCA 5-Stand, and various other side events, including sub-gauge and sub-gauge FITASC. Malterud went into the event believing he belonged.
Said Malterud, “I definitely knew going in that I had a chance to win at least one event. Finishing top 25 is not something that shocked me, but it was a good event in terms of a measuring stick. Now I know how close I am to being all the way at the top. I have those last few targets to pick up to finish at the top of the world.”
Malterud shot 86/100 in the prelims and then 92/100 in super sporting while winning the A Class World English Championship. Malterud’s 92 was five targets better than the second-place finisher. It was an improvement over his total of 91 in super sporting at the same National Shooting Complex about a month earlier at the 2022 ACUI Collegiate Clay Target National Championships. Malterud was joined at the World English Championships by former Concordia teammate Colten Uitermarkt. This was a continuation of success by Bulldog marksmen on the national and world stages.
Though Malterud has finished his time as an athlete and coach at Concordia, he is confident the best is yet to come in terms of his competitive shooting career. He also has a desire to help the next wave of young shooters find their place within collegiate competition.
“I’m taking it one thing at a time,” Malterud said. “I’m coming off a big World Championship and I have a lot of momentum. I’ve got some big things lined up for clinics and coaching back home in Minnesota. I want to help develop kids for the collegiate level, something I wasn’t prepared to do. There are a lot of kids who participate in trap in high school and very few make it to the collegiate level. There’s a big disconnect there. I want people to have the experience and opportunities that I’ve had. Growing the sport is important to me. I’ll also continue my own career and hope to gain some more partnerships and build more relationships. I’ve had the opportunity to meet some really amazing people.”
Malterud also navigated challenges that were decidedly unique this past 2021-22 academic year. He took on increased coaching responsibilities after Concordia Head Coach Scott Moniot passed away in November 2021. The Concordia Athletic Department pooled additional resources and emotional support into the program to help the team continue through the second semester of competition. Malterud says the team came closer together while aspiring to make beloved Coach Moniot proud.
“Nobody could just step in and be Scott and everything that Scott was,” Malterud said. “I knew I had to not just help everyone developmentally, but it was more important that we could keep the family together. That was something Scott was big on. He brought us together as a team and that’s how we were able to get through it. It was hard for everyone coming back and doing what we did. It was especially hard for the senior class because all we knew was Scott and this program with Scott. Now we didn’t have him there after spending three-and-a-half years achieving everything we had. I knew we had to keep everyone’s heart in it. I told our team that no other team in the country has a spotlight shining more brightly on them than us. Everyone is looking at us to see how we would respond.”
As Malterud moves on and continues his own shooting career, he knows he’ll be forever impacted by what he experienced as a Bulldog. He will think of the things he learned from Moniot and the time spent with teammates on all of those weekend college shoots. As he continues to attempt to elevate himself into the category of “Master Class,” Malterud is thankful for the time spent at Concordia. The relationships will always stand out as Malterud looks ahead to the North Central Regionals and future national and international competitions.
Said Malterud, “I loved all my teammates. It changed to a different sort of relationship as I stepped into a new role this spring. It forced me to grow as a person. You can’t put a price on that. There are some amazing stories and relationships I’ve built with these people.”