Don Sanderlin

Don Sanderlin rose to prominence in 1965 in the Alberta provincial skeet shooting scene at a tournament in Lloydminster, where he won multiple events along with his clubmates from the Edmonton Gun Club, and then the city championship later that same year. In 1966, he saw great success at the Pacific Northwest skeet shooting championships in Spokane, Washington in which he won 4 events, including the high-overall title in which he defeated American Phil Giger with a 427 out of 450 total score.

The top amateur skeet shooter of Canada of the 1960s, Sanderlin was also the winner of numerous Alberta provincial and regional skeet championship titles, and won multiple consecutive Western Canada skeet shooting championships in the late 1960s. He competed in his first international tournament in 1967 at the Pan American Games held in Winnipeg. At the 1968 Olympic trials held in Ste. Anne des Plaines, Quebec, Sanderlin scored 289 out of 300 in the 12-gauge event, placing first and earning a spot on the Canadian Olympic shooting team, along with Harry Willsie of Montreal. Prior to the Olympics, Willsie and Sanderlin were also invited to compete in the United States International Skeet Championships in San Antonio, Texas in which he finished 3rd. At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Sanderlin competed in the skeet event and placed 15th with a score of 191 out of a possible 200, later noting that his performance was hampered by a case of the flu.

In 1970, Sanderlin was named to the Sports Afield All-American skeet shooting team. He competed in the skeet event at the 1971 Pan American Games held in Cali, Colombia, finishing with a score out of 194 out of 200 targets, narrowly missing out on a medal as 4 other competitors tied for first place with a score of 195 out of 200. In 1972, Sanderlin won his fifth Canadian international-style skeet shooting championship title, breaking 185 out 200 targets and earning the right to represent Canada at Olympic Games for a second time, alongside fellow 1967 Pan American Games teammate Bruno De Costa. This time, he placed 50th in a field of 63 competitors. Invited to compete in the British Commonwealth Games at Christchurch in 1974 but unable to travel due to business commitments, Sanderlin would compete in his final international tournament at the 1975 Pan American Games in Mexico City. He later continued to compete in provincial and Canada-wide tournaments throughout the late 1970s and 1980s.

Sanderlin was born in 1933 at Viking, Alberta, one of two children born to Edwin H. and Alyce Sanderlin. He was raised and educated in Edmonton, attending Old Strathcona High School before receiving certification as an electrician at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) in Calgary. After his graduation, he obtained his journeyman papers and worked as an electrician for Brothers Electric in Edmonton, and later joined Hillas Electric where he started shifting to work in a management capacity. Originally joining the company as an estimator and plant superintendent, Sanderlin eventually rose by the early 1970s to become the president and general manager of an electrical contracting firm, Wilf Got & Associates Electric, with offices in Edmonton and Calgary. By the late 1980s, he was associated with a local auctioneering company.