The Minnewaska trap team shot their reserve-week scores on Thursday April 20 and in true Minnesota fashion, it was snowing.  Yes, big heavy wet snowflakes were coming down most of the afternoon. “The nice thing is that the wind was not terrible.  It was definitely blowing, but it didn’t seem to be a factor” said head coach Jennie Stone.

Each athlete shot a practice round followed by two rounds of competition.  The team’s overall average for the day was 17.8.  “Not the best average, but really, we are just at the beginning of the season with all the delays we have had, so I know that number will climb.  We want it to be 22 or higher by the time the state shoot comes around.”

The weather didn’t bother August Reichmann as he crushed a 48 x 50 for high gun on the day.  Dylan VanZee broke yet another 25 straight, and Onyx Johnson, who is brand new to the sport, was the team’s most improved shooter of the week, improving his score by 19 targets.

The team also carded their week 1 competition scores, Sunday, April 23.  “Because of the poor weather this spring, teams in Minnesota have an extended deadline to submit scores,” coach Stone said.  “There are still gun clubs that are buried in drifts.  For this reason, we will not see any competition results until May 8.”  

It is sometimes hard to keep the kids motivated when they don’t know where they stand, but we are trying to keep learning and improving, and throwing a little fun into each session.”

Week 1 scores brought out some big numbers.  High gun was a three-way tie of 48 x 50 from Kyler Anderson, Levi Schultz, and Dylan VanZee.  After a tough practice round, Jonathan Hagen came back with two incredible rounds of 24 and 23 for a 47 total. “That kind of determination is exactly what we are looking for with all our shooters.  Don’t give up, refocus and take care of business,” coach Stone said.  “Clusters of scores like that are what pushes a team up in the ranks.  We hope to see that more and more in the coming weeks.  Clusters of 49, 48, 47, and even 46 make all the difference because of the way the league does the ranking.”  

Most improved this week was Holly Hennen with 13 more targets than she shot last week and the team average jumped up to 18.5.  “Not to be ignored, Mother Nature did give us a heavy flurry of snow Sunday, but fortunately it was after we had finished shooting for the day,” Stone said.

At the end of competition, team captains Levi Schultz and Mason Reichmann gave a presentation on flag etiquette and proper flag handling.