In 1936, the National Rifle Association set up its All-American honors for top collegiate rifle and pistol shooters. In 1985, NRA expanded its honorees to include those competing with shotguns.
In that category’s first year, there was one All-American named for excellence in trap shooting: Kevin Maloan ’85.
Maloan was awarded a lapel pin and a certificate, and the WSU administration was presented with a plaque that was later given to Maloan.
Maloan, who lives in Garnett, Kan., got his start shooting American Trap as a 9-year-old under the tutelage of his grandfather, who bought him a Winchester Model 50 12-gauge shotgun. By the time Maloan was 12, he regularly traveled around Kansas to shoot registered targets.
While taking sports business classes at WSU, Maloan practiced shooting at the Kansas Trapshooting Association’s range in rural Sedgwick, Kan., and competed whenever he could.
As a freshman in 1980, he competed at the ACUI National Collegiate Shotgun Championships and won a gold medal in the International Trap competition. WSU did not have a shooting sports team then (the club team was chartered in 2013), so Maloan attended collegiate competitions on his own. Thanks to his success, Maloan was invited to the Olympic Trials in 1984.
Although he hasn’t shot competitively much in recent years, Maloan remains active in shooting sports as Eastern Zone Director and as Youth Director for the Kansas Trapshooting Association.
