The NRHEG High School clay target squad improved over its first week and were rewarded by moving up in the standings from fourth to second. The team now only trails the group from McGregor-Aitkin-Cromwell High school.
The Panthers did it with very impressive performances from their top shooters and a surprise round from one of the team's rookies. Kyle Bartz (Waseca), an individual qualifier in the MSHSL State Individual Tournament last year, turned in a total 49/50 round. This brings his average over the first two weeks of the season to 24/25 which has him leading the conference and in the top 100 in the state. But, not to be outdone, newcomer Brett Kubiatowitcz (NRHEG) also turned in a 49/50 which included his first perfect round of 25 for the season.
These two scores, along with the fact NRHEG continues to have a number of athletes in the top of the conference, made the case for the team to move up in the standings. In fact, the team has six members currently in the top 25 shooters in the conference. Bartz leads with Tyler Raimann (NRHEG) in second. Raimann is also currently in the state’s top 100.
Collin Christianson (NRHEG) is 5th in the conference, Frank Altrichter (NRHEG) 9th, Alex Romer (Albert Lea) 16th, Kubiatowicz 19th.
"What hurt us last week was our bottom shooters," pointed out head coach Dan Sorum. "But this week, they improved nicely and that makes a huge difference when every person can contribute to the team score."
Sorum was quick to note however that McGregor still put distance between themselves and the rest of the conference and as such the NRHEG squad will have to continue to be strong on the top half and see improvement from the bottom. There are three weeks left in the season. The team shoots every Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the Owatonna Gun Club.
Class 4A - Conference 4
Team Name Total Points
McGregor-Aitkin-Cromwell 14067
NRHEG 12389.5
Mahtomedi 11585.5
Marshall 11187
Sartell 9313.5
Glencoe-Silver Lake 8972.5
Cretin-Derham Hall 8938
