Shooting Wire

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The junior varsity squad for the Ankeny Centennial Jaguars Trap Team of Iowa picked up the first of two Trap national titles with their winning performance during competition at the 2017 Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) National Team Championships.

The Jaguars's Black squad broke 973 targets and were led by Hunter Ryan Block and Kael Richmond with 198, followed by Creighton Kesterson with 195, Chase Martin with 191 and Joshua Jorgensen with 191. All five shooters hail from Ankeny.

Second place went to another Iowa squad, North Scott Trap Team with a final target count of 966. Not Scott was led by Princeton shooters Thomas Keeshan and Jacob Dies of Princeton, each with 196, followed by Jaydon Biles of Princeton with 194, Grace Bjustrom of Eldridge and Nick Kunde of Princeton both breaking 190.

Pennsylvania's Warren County Claybusters' Clay Clean-Up Crew placed third with 956. Reid Scott of Spartansburg led the Clay Clean-Up Crew with 198, followed by Rowdy Finch of Corry and Reece Carr with 190 each, Pierce Landis of Warren with 189 and Nicholas Lapinski of Spring Creek, also with 189.

The Smokin Dragons of Kentucky finished fourth with 953 and were led by Connor Richardson of Munfordville with 199, followed by Casen Murray of Greensburg with 192, Brice Matney of Greensburg with 191, Anthony Richard of Columbia with 186 and Kayden young of Greensburg with 185.

Rounding out the top five was the Georgia squad from the Lake Oconee Shotgun Team. Breaking 946 clay targets, Lake Oconee was led by Riley Downs of Mitchell with 197, followed by Baylor Garland of Eatonton with 189, Graham Eubanks of Eatonton and Hank Hall of Eatonton with 187 each and Hagen Young of McIntyre with 186.

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 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, visit www.sssfonline.org. You can also follow SCTP on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ShootSCTP or @ScholasticShootingSports on Instagram.