Nel brings Skeet Shooting Championship to SIC
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Who would have guessed that a world title would come to Southeastern Illinois College from half a world away? Riaan Nel, a high school graduate from Johannesburg, South Africa, has brought such a distinction to the school.
In September, Nel became World Champion in Class D Doubles at the National Skeet Shooting Association's (NSSA) World Championships held in San Antonio, TX. Competing in the open category, he scored 93/100 using a Beretta 682 Over and Under Gold E, besting the world's top shooters in 12 Gauge D Class skeet.
Nel is enrolled in SIC's Game Preserve/Shooting Complex Management associate's degree program. He admits that what attracted him to SIC was its world class shooting team. However, what he found was a world class academic program that is preparing him for a lifetime of doing what he enjoys: hunting and shooting competitively on the international stage.
Bruce Hering, program coordinator and coach of SIC's shotgun team, is thrilled with Nel's performance at San Antonio. "In my 25 years of coaching shooters, Riaan ranks in the top 10," said Hering. "His performance in September at the NSSA Championships, during challenging weather conditions I might add, is nothing short of remarkable," added Hering.
Southeastern's shooting team has been in existence for only five years but consistently places high in regional, national, and world competitions, both in individual shooting and as a team. The program's reputation attracts some of the best men and women shooters in the United States in trap, skeet, and sporting clays.
Nel comes by his shooting ability from his father, an avid hunter and world class target shooter. In fact, the senior Nel won the B Class 12 Gauge World Event title in San Antonio while his son was excelling in D Class. "I started shooting a Sabati 20 gauge shotgun when I was only nine, hunting pheasants with my dad in South Africa," said Nel. "I fell in love with shotguns and bird hunting and started practicing my marksmanship shooting clay targets. Consistency is the key ingredient to winning in skeet," he added.
"Riaan is an interesting student in a number of ways," stated Hering, who is also the program's lead instructor. "He has brought not only a unique social and political perspective from another part of the world but also a unique ability as a shooter to adapt to almost any weather-related circumstance, including a shooter's worst enemy, the wind."
Hering attributes Nel's ability to shoot well in adverse conditions to his years hunting fowl with his father in South Africa, his incredible hand-eye coordination, and his fiercely competitive nature. "He drives himself to be the very best in target shooting and possesses the desire and discipline to do just that. To call him a high achiever is an understatement. His drive and leadership have earned Riaan the title of captain of SIC's shotgun team," remarked Hering.
Some 8,700 miles from home, Nel depends on his classmates and teachers to keep him focused and grounded, especially after going through considerable culture shock since arriving in America. "The freedom of movement everyone has in this country is unbelievable," said Nel, commenting on the less violent nature and more open society of the United States. "I love every minute of my newly found freedom, and I am very grateful to my friends and instructors at SIC for helping me adjust to a new way of life," he added.
Nel's accomplishments in the classroom and lab are leading toward a degree that will allow him to manage a hunting preserve and shooting complex. "My dream is to manage a hunting and shooting operation in Texas. Not only do I want to continue shooting professionally but I also want to learn as much as I can about the American way of hunting, which is very different than the hunting we do in South Africa," expressed Nel, who hopes to gain U.S. citizenship in the not-too-distant future.
Nel will finish his studies at SIC in 2013 after completing a one-year internship where he will experience hands-on management training in the game preserve/shooting complex industry. As for his competitive shooting, Nel's outstanding world class performance in D Class Doubles Skeet has earned him the right to compete for the B Class Doubles World Championship in 2012.