Allen Tomnitz - Inducted 2004

Born July 22, 1921 in Great Bend, Kan. 1940 Great Bend HS grad. The only South Dakotan in the National Trapshooting Hall of Fame, Tomnitz grew up in Kansas, but he lived in Sioux Falls for almost 60 years. Tomnitz started shooting trap in 1945. Because of his job as a corporate pilot, he was unable to shoot much in the 1960s and early 1970s. After retiring, he lived the trapshooting life, firing thousands of rounds a year and making a national reputation in the sport. Even at age 80, he was competing against and beating men who were 30, 40 and 50 years younger than him. In 1947, Tomnitz won the Class C honors in the Singles Class Championship at the Grand American, the nation?s premier trapshooting event in Vandalia, Ohio. He didn't win another Grand American trophy for 40 years. Once he started winning there again, he didn't stop, and he added 119 more to that first award. He was on the senior vet (age 70 and over) All-American team 11 times, being named captain every year but one, and he was on the veteran (60 and over) All-American team four times. He won 13 championships at the Central Zone, including the singles championship in 1999 with a run of 475. He won 18 championships at South Dakota state shoots. He was state senior vet champ eight out of nine years from 1993-2001, missing only in 1999. Tomnitz's lifetime target attainment was more than 110,000 in doubles, 160,000 in handicap and 230,000 in singles. He was inducted into the South Dakota Trapshooting Hall of Fame in 1988 and the National Trapshooting Hall of Fame in 2002.