The 2004 Area 8 Championship took place on July 16th-18th in Topton, PA. There were a total of 320 shooters, with open being the biggest division with nearly 40% of the competition. I thought that was pretty interesting as open division has seemed to slack off a bit this year. Area 8 is always a great match for me to shoot because of the level of competition, as it is home to Todd Jarrett, JJ Racaza, and Phil Strader. Of course, Todd was favored to win the limited division but Travis Tomasie (Army Team Member) had other plans and only time would tell who would come out on top.

The match consisted of 11 stages and was to be shot in a one day format. I can't say it enough; I love this kind of match. It seemed like we never really stopped shooting, as we went from one stage to the next. The stages were set up very similar to what I think we will see at this year's Nationals. Just for that reason alone I was very pleased I went to the match. In fact, I almost didn't make it to the Area 8. We weren't scheduled to shoot this match but at the last minute we decided to go. Tina was very kind and held our slots for us until it was a definite go. Thanks a lot Tina!

This year in the Open division the top guys were JJ Racaza and Chris Tilley. Chris and I had been battling it out all year as you know but this was the first time that JJ and I had met since last November. That is one of the main reasons why I decided to go to this match at the last minute. JJ and I both wanted to see how we stacked up against each other. Because I signed up so late, I had to shoot on Friday. Chris Tilley was also scheduled to shoot on Friday so we decided to squad together like usual. JJ shot on Saturday, so we knew we had to shoot hard to post good scores and keep him on his toes. When all the smoke cleared I captured 6 out of the 11 stages and continued my winning streak of every Area Championship this year! The results are as follows:

Results Open:
1. Max Michel 100%
2. Chris Tilley 96.69%
3. JJ Racaza 96.18%

I wanted to say something about the limited division as well. My teammate Travis Tomasie has been working very hard this year to get his limited game where he wants it before the Nationals. It is finally starting to pay off! He won the limited division, which had most of the top GM's there, including multiple National Champion, Todd Jarrett. This made for our first of MANY TO COME, double division wins! Great job T, keep it up! His results were:

Results Limited:
1. Travis Tomasie 100%
2. Emanuel Bragg 99%
3. Taran Butler 98%

As usual we had a great time, not to mention I was able to eat at one of my favorite restaurants in the country! It is a small place near the range and I look forward to it every year. Again, I would like to thank George Jones and his staff for a great match. Good work guys!

Until next time,
Max Michel, Jr.