In what continues to remain a world dominated by a pandemic, the Minnesota State High School Clay Target League has once again set up a modified schedule for all high school trap shooting teams.
Rather than the traditional competitive shoot each week, all teams actually have the option and flexibility to shoot their rounds however works for their situations as long as they have five weeks worth of scores to turn in by May 22.
“The flexibility is great for scheduling, but does take away from the weekly standings that can make a season a little more exciting,” said NRHEG coach Dan Sorum. “It also means teams won't know how their competitors are doing until all scores are turned in. But then in the world of trapshooting, it has always been the athlete vs. the target and all external factors are not as important.”
With that, the team from NRHEG has completed one week of scores. Highlighting those scores were perfect rounds of 25 straight turned in by Caden Beauvais, Cale Flatness and Jason Eustice. Beauvais also had the best score for the week with a 48 out of 50 possible.
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Given the nature of scoring, the team is also going to highlight an athlete each week. This week we talked to Eva Wayne. Eva is a sophomore at NRHEG High School in just her second season as a clay target shooter. Eva tells us that she got into trapshooting because, "My family and cousins all enjoy trapshooting and were the ones who taught me how to shoot. I was 15 years old when I got my gun license and 16 years old when I joined the NRHEG clay target team last fall."
Eva is also part of the 2021 state champion competition cheer team. When comparing competition cheer to trapshooting, Eva said, "Cheerleading and clay target shooting couldn't be more different, but they have taught me similar life skills. I have learned patience, discipline, and how to work hard during both activities. In addition to this, both sports take lots of practice time and effort because ‘practice makes perfect.’ I have to be precise and focused 100% of the time."
Eva also noted that both sports require a little more education when talking to people about them, especially since both typically have less spectator attendance from our school. Eva's goals are to maintain or improve her average from last fall and do well in her first state shoot in Alexandria in June.