Nine local trap shooters will be competing in the USA High School Clay Target League National Championships next month.
Qualifying this year are Seniors Sawyer Sand, who is returning to his third national tournament, Logan Campion, competing in his second, Trinity Popp, and Jackson Thor, Sophomores Matt Wotachek for the second time, Logan Taddy, who led the conference with an average score of 23.5, and Ava Sand, and Freshmen Faith Nelson and Mark Wotachek.
Last year, the local team sent seven shooters to Mason, Michigan, for the tournament, but Coach Sarah Schmidt says this year was an even bigger success, despite the weather.
“Our Sundays were not kind to us this year,” she admitted. “Sundays, if you look back, have been windy and rainy, but our kids came out, and they have shown that we are not fair-weather shooters by any means.”
The Captain of this past season was Trinity Popp, who just graduated from Mishicot High School.
“It’s been pretty great,” she recalled with a smile. “We have an amazing team, and I’m so honored to have served as the past year’s team captain.”
Ava Sand was recently named the next team Captain, and she tells us she learned a lot from last year’s team.
“From last year, I learned to forget if you missed one and just move on and not let it get in your head,” she explained.
She also thanked all of the coaches who have helped the team grow, specifically, Sarah, Joe, Nel, Katie, and Rodney.
Logan Campion is returning to nationals for the second year in a row, and he is doing so with a unique weapon on his shoulder, a 1962 Remington 870.
Schmidt noted that this gun was handed down to him from his grandfather and is wildly different from the $10,000 modern guns other shooters will be using.
But, he has been able to control the gun and uses it to great effect on the trap course.
The USA High School Clay Target Lague National Championships will run July 8th through the 12th and will showcase 3,000 of the nation’s finest clay target shooters.
