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Straight Shooter Teresa Condon Right on Target
Straight Shooter Teresa Condon Right on Target
By Jodi Nash
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talented equestrian, she grew up in Massachusetts and was “horse crazy” from the start. A 3-day event rider, in 1991 she moved to Virginia to train with Torrance Watkins, the renowned Olympic gold medalist, and later in her career, with Mike Plumb, an eight-time eventing Olympian.
In 1993, she started working at Great Meadow in The Plains, eventually becoming executive director, managing the property and events, sponsors, marketing, and day-to-day operations, while also acting as race director for the Virginia Gold Cup.
Serendipitously, her path crossed with Britton Condon, an expert “sporting clay” competitor and a top shot in the U.S. also ranked No. 7 in the world. They started dating, eventually married, and she was quickly exposed to a whole new competitive arena.
Teresa Condon
Photo by Middleburg Photo
“I’m not much of a cheerleader, so I jumped right into it,” Teresa recalled. Though she had no familiarity with firearms, she had no trepidation about learning, and her horse events were gradually replaced with sporting clay competitions.
Sporting clays can be fairly compared to golf with a shotgun. No two courses are alike, and terrain and foliage dictate how targets are presented. Targets may be thrown from any angle or distance, and are designed to simulate the shooting of ducks, pheasants and other upland birds in the wild.
It’s the closest thing to actual field shooting of all the shotgun sports, and perhaps for this reason, is not yet an Olympic sport, as are skeet and trap shooting.
“It’s very difficult, with more varying targets,” Teresa said.
Competitors typically shoot in squads of two to six and move over a course with 10-15 stations. Specialty targets can be used to provide the illusion of speed or distance to simulate the ways of game birds, and all targets can be thrown as singles or pairs.
Though any shotgun can be used, Teresa, Britton, and their 19-year-old son, Forbes, all shoot an off-brand Krieghoff 12-gauge. The Krieghoffs are personal friends and former sponsors for Britton’s competitive sporting clay career.
“Shotgun sports became a family affair, and the kids tagged along,” Teresa said, adding that Forbes, a freshman at Virginia Tech, also grew up competing. He won a U.S. Open national junior championship in the same year his dad won his class.
“He’s a member of the A squad shooting team at Tech now,” Teresa noted with pride. Daughter Blythe, a junior at Liberty University, also is a “natural shot,” but music is her passion, particularly singing opera.
Over the years, shotgun sport events have taken the family around the country and to England, France, Portugal, Spain, and Australia. Teresa, who left Great Meadow after Blythe was born, has competed intermittently while raising her children.
“I loved being a wife and mother, it was my first priority,” she said.
Over the past three years, with the kids away at college, she’s had the luxury of focusing seriously on her own competitive shooting career.
She’s now also a National Sporting Clays Association (NSCA) certified Instructor, offering lessons at a small, private shooting ground in Delaplane, where she practices. She has about 30 students, both adults and children, and enjoys sharing her skills and experience.
“It’s the safest sport in the world, and you can participate from age 10 well into your 80s,” she said. “There’s no limit on how well you can do if you work harder and practice more. I’m just kicking in now.”
For Teresa’s next act, check in at David Condon, Inc.: Antique Arms and Armorer in Middleburg in a few months. Her father-in-law, David Condon, has been operating the shop for 45 years, with Britton also a vital part of the business. Teresa has a novel approach in mind on how to become part of the operation, but that’s another story, so stay tuned.
