COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Maquoketa Cardinals of Iowa broke 853 of 1,000 targets to take the Doubles Trap title in the Open Division during competition at the 2017 Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) National Team Championships.

Held July 8-15 at the Cardinal Shooting Center in Marengo, Ohio, more than 2,300 athletes representing 29 states faced over one million clay targets during eight days of competition in the shooting disciplines of Trap, Skeet and Sporting Clays.

The Maquoketa squad was led by Clinton Manning of Maquoketa with 188 targets followed by Thayne Chapin of Maquoketa with 186, Isaiah Miller of Baldwin with 174, Isaac Crist of Delmar with 165 and Trevor Dull of Zwingle with 140.

Finishing just nine targets back with 844 was Iowa's Pleasant Valley High School Trap Team. Daniel Romans of Bettendorf was the squad's top shooter with 180 followed by Drew Baxter of LeClaire with 176, Ethan Hornbuckle of Bettendorf with 169, Brent Alman of Bettendorf with 162 and Jack Ager of Bettendorf with 157.

Third place went to the Northern Kentucky Scholastic Trap Club. Shooters Hunter Plewke of Alexandria (180), Miller Souther of Crittenden (173), Tyler Allphin of Independence (171), Logan Travis of Covington (148) and Rebekah Schnitzler of California (129) combined for a final target count of 801.

The Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) is a youth development program in which adult coaches and other volunteers use the shooting sports of Trap, Skeet and Sporting Clays, as well as the Olympic disciplines of Bunker Trap, Trap Doubles and International Skeet to teach and to demonstrate sportsmanship, responsibility, honesty, ethics, integrity, teamwork, and other positive life skills. Nationally, there are nearly 14,800 students and more than 3,300 adult volunteers across 45 states participating in the Scholastic Clay Target Program.

The Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc. (SSSF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the National Governing Body for the Scholastic Clay Target Program. SCTP was started by the National Shooting Sports Foundation in 2001.

For more information about SCTP and SSSF, visi www.sssfonline.org. You can also follow SCTP on Facebook a www.facebook.com/ShootSCTP or https://www.instagram.com/scholasticshootingsports/>@ScholasticShootingSports on Instagram.