Derrick grew up on a small farm in southeast Kansas and developed a love of the outdoors at an early age tagging along with his dad while quail and deer hunting. He started in sporting clays at age eight, joining his dad in a small league at a local club and began developing his skills as a competitive shooter.
The shooting sports earned him a scholarship to Lindenwood University. While there, he was on dual scholarship for baseball and the shotgun team. After a couple years, he transferred to Kansas State University to pursue a degree in Animal Science, graduating in 2008. While at KSU, he won the ACUI Collegiate Clay Target Championship, a format that includes international trap, international skeet, American skeet, American trap, and sporting clays.
After college, he moved to Ohio where he designed and managed Cardinal Center Sporting Clays. Having successfully getting the facility up and going, he took the chance to move closer to home to manage Powder Creek Shooting Park in Lenexa, Kansas.
During his years in the shooting sports, Derrick has competed in many different disciplines, including sporting clays, skeet, trap, international trap, and helice, winning national titles and earning Team USA honors in helice, international trap, and sporting clays. Still to this day, Derrick enjoys shooting with his father and is regularly seen competing with him around the country in sporting clay events.
Derrick has eight International medals to date and will be competing in his second Olympic Games in Paris.
Competition Highlights:
2024 CAT Games: Gold, Men's Trap; Bronze, Men's Trap Team
2023 ISSF World Championship: Gold, Men’s Trap Team; Silver, Mixed Trap Team
2022 ISSF Presidents World Cup, Silver, Men's Trap
2022 World Championship, Gold, Men's Trap
2022 Cairo World Cup, Silver, Men's Trap
2022 Baku World Cup, Silver, Men's Trap Team
2022 Lima World Cup, Bronze, Men's Trap; Gold, Men's Trap Team
2020 ATA Grand American AAA High All Around Champion