Colby trap shooters target date with state
Trap shooters to have state meet at Rome
The Colby trap shooting team is shooting in the dark this season after the Wisconsin State High School Clay Target League informed their participants that due to the modified spring season, weekly results are out.
The league will instead be posting optional mid-season scores and rankings on May 2. The final results and standings will not be revealed until May 28.
What the trap shooters do know is that there will in fact be a state meet in Rome this year. With COVID-19 cases on the decline, and with the sport held outside, it was decided by the league to host the state meet in its usual location.
The knowledge that there will be a state tournament has already spurred the Hornets on, and has led to a great deal of excitement among the team.
“The ones that have been there before are very excited, and for some it’s an experience they’ve never had,” head coach Dan Hederer says. “To go down, just to see the place, all the kids that will be there, they’re excited.”
COVID-19 protocols such as social distancing and masking are encouraged, and the event will be spread out over two days, and will adhere to state health guidelines. The state meet will take place on June 12-13 at the WTA Shooting Complex in Rome, Wis, with Colby set to compete on Saturday, June 12.
And while the trap shooters don’t necessarily know how their scores compare to others in their conference week to week, they do know which schools they will be going against.
This season, Colby has been placed in the Class A 2 Conference. They will be going against Mishicot, Ashwaubenon Algoma, Faith Christian, Fall River, Gillet and New Holstein High Schools.
The season got fully underway earlier this month, and through the first two weeks, trap scores have steadily increased for the Colby Hornets.
In week one, over the course of two rounds of 25 targets, Brayden Boyer shot a 27, Alana Brlll had 25 and Tucker Hayes and Jacob Hoppe each shot a 36. Brekyn Lieders recorded the team’s best result through Week One, shooting a 41. Mateo Lopez had 34, Braxton Meyer shot a 35 and Isaac Raatz and Braxton Smith each shot 33. Grady Steinman had the second best result in the first week, recording a 37. Tyler Timmers finished with a 22.
In the second week almost every member of Colby’s trap team either improved or remained at their first weeks’s results.
Boyer shot a 28, Brill had 22 and Hayes had a 28. Hoppe finished with 35 and Lieders remained at 41. Lopez shot a 26, and Braxton Meyer had one of the best overall improvements from the first week, going from a 35 to a 42.
Raatz finished with a 33 in his second week and Braxton Smith shot a 38, and improvement of five targets. Steinman had the best overall improvement out of any member, improving from his week one tally of 37 to record a 45 in his second week, a jump of eight targets. Tyler Timmers held steady at 22.
The results are encouraging after just two weeks, and Hederer is encouraged by what he sees - outside of the weather.
“The weather has been terrible, every week the wind is just so terrible. But all of them are shooting very well, especially our new shooters Braxton Meyer and Tucker Hayes. They’re impressing me.”
“Alana Brill is doing very well, and Grady Steinman has great potential. I think he’ll end up more than likely our top shooter this year, and should place very well at state. But no, things are going well and I’m very excited and I think we’ll do well at state this year.”
