NRHEG clay target shooters, front row from left: Cade Meyer, Alexis Olson, Justin Beauvais, Wyatt Larson. Back row: Gage Heusinkveld, Aidan Schlaak, Ryan Schlaak. Star Eagle photos by Chris Schlaak
By DAN SORUM
Head coach
In the first week of competition shooting for the trapshooters of NRHEG the team found themselves in 3rd place amongst a tight pack of 5 squads. But, in Week 2 the team found a groove and moved up to first in what is still a tight conference. Only 600 points separate the Panthers from the team in 5th and with team scores that range in the upper 3000 to lower 4000 points per week this is still a race. Last week the team was led by junior Eva Wayne who led all shooters in the conference with a round of 49 out of 50 possible targets hit. In the second week it would be seniors Alex Dobberstein and Clay Stenzel to turn in nearly perfect rounds with a 49 joined by junior Sean Beauvais with a 48 out of 50 that would power the team up in the standings. But, it is important to remember that clay target uses a True Team style scoring system in which the top 34 scores from the team of 48 athletes are used. So, while the team leaders create the ability to vault the team up, it is the base created by the mid-range and lower ranger shooters who saw a nice improvement as well that allowed for that vault to occur. The team currently has nine shooters in the Top 25 Male Averages in the conference and five shooters in the Top 25 Female Averages. For the guys the conference is led by Alex Dobberstein and Clay Stenzel. They are joined by Sean Beauvais, Walker Krampitz, Alden Dobberstein, Trevor Lenort, Leo Harguth, Cale Flatness, and Brody Mudgett. The women are led by Eva Wayne at the top of the conference. She is joined by Kiera Lenort, Miranda LaCanne, Neela Wencl, and Aspyn Stenzel. The team has three weeks of competition left. They shoot twice a week at the Owatonna Gun Club south of Hope.