Adapted from The Outdoor Wire:
More than 600 shooters participated in the 2025 Steel Challenge Association World Speed Shoot in Talladega, Alabama, at the Civilian Marksmanship Range, May 28-June 1. Team ZeroTech’s Ashley Krenek, who shot Limited Optics C class and Rimfire Pistol Open B Class, placed first in both divisions using the ZeroTech H.A.L.O Enclosed Aspherical Reflex Sight on her Ruger Mark IV Lite to bring in the gold medal.
So who is Ashley Krenek and how did she get here?
“I’ve always shot,” said Krenek. “When I was a kid we’d shoot tin cans at our family deer camp and targets out at our local ranges. In 2001 I got my License to Carry and thought, wow—that’s a lot of responsibility.” Krenek said she started looking to improve her handgun skills in a way that would apply to everyday life, and in 2005 stumbled upon IDPA at her local range, Pearland Shooting Club. “I was hooked!” she exclaimed. “The other shooters were all super welcoming and I felt like I found an extension to my family.” Krenek said soon after shooting USPSA, Steel Challenge, she joined a local chapter of the women-only shooting group A Girl And A Gun, which operates chapters throughout the country.
Krenek says she shot matches for a few years but got serious about competing in 2014 when she hired her first coach, Jim Duncan, for the 2015 IDPA World Championship as well as the 2015 Benelli Shotgun Championship. Both events were organized through A Girl and A Gun. She trained all summer for two of the biggest matches in the nation with no major match experience. Krenek says it was the most difficult shooting training she’d ever done—but it was so much fun.
Since then, Krenek hasn’t slowed down. In 2017 she became a sponsored shooter for Orr Tactical, a veteran owned ammo manufacturing company in Needville, Texas, and was recently chosen for a sponsorship from ZeroTech Optics. In 2020, Krenek picked up another coach, Kita Busse, who has helped her gain speed in all shooting sports using effect movement. Krenek now shoots all sports in the Houston area, including USPSA, IDPA, Steel Challenge, Outlaw, 3-gun, Skeet, and Sporting Clays. She has competed most with her CZ 75 paired with an optic, but recently switched to shooting a Ruger Mark IV Lite with the HALO in August 2024 after she broke her left arm in a motorcycle accident. Due to the lighter recoil, the. .22-cal. pistol was the only gun with which she could continue practicing without pain. She mostly shot Steel Challenge and practiced strong-hand-only for months till her left arm was healed through rest and rehabilitation. When her doctor released her in March she says she was elated! Although Krenek says she’s still not at full strength on the left side, she works daily to get there.
Krenek has shot many major IDPA and USPSA matches including the Gulf Coast Championship, Dragon’s Cup, Space City Challenge, and Texas State Open, and Steel Challenge majors like Area 4 and Lone Star, but this was her first World Championship Steel Challenge match. She has frequently said that Steel Challenge is her favorite shooting sport because of its “instant gratification or instant disappointment, because you get feedback as soon as you pull the trigger.” Krenek added that while shooting paper is fun, it doesn’t give her the same thrill as shooting steel.
In addition to shooting, Krenek is the match director for the Gulf Coast Championship, a 501c3 which holds weekly and annual matches to help raise money for Homes For Our Troops. Homes For Our Troops builds mortgage free homes for severely injured post-9/11 veterans. Krenek also is on the board for the Ascend Officer Appreciation Day where she is the match director for their annual shooting match during the appreciation day events. She also manages a monthly Steel Challenge and USPSA match at her local club with her original coach, Jim Duncan, and is an active member and assistant for the South Houston and Alvin A Girl And A Gun chapters.
