Now Underway! Over 7,700 athletes competing in Minnesota State High School Clay Target League Trap Shooting Championship!
Alexandria, Minnesota – Students from all across the state are participating in the 2026 Minnesota State High School Clay Target League (MNSHSCTL) Trap Shooting Championship! The event began on Monday June 15th, and will conclude on Tuesday, June 23rd. With over 7,700 student athletes, the event is quite possibly the world's largest shooting sport event by participation.
This year a total of 7,724 athletes from 340 high school teams are participating across 9 days at the Alexandria Shooting Park in Alexandria, Minnesota. In addition, nearly 25,000 parents, coaches, volunteers, and other spectators will attend to cheer their athletes and teams on during the event.
As of Friday morning, over 3,300 students have already participated in the event, in which competitors shoot 100 targets split between morning and afternoon sessions.
Students and teams are organized into 9 'Classes' with each Class participating on a specific day at the Championship. Classes are ultimately determined by team size, with the smallest teams (5-10 athletes) competing on the first day of the event, and the largest teams (as many as 100+ athletes) competing on the final day of the event.
Each day of competition awards the top 3 male and female athletes by score in three classifications determined by their regular season average:
Novice: 0-14.99 average per round (25)
Junior Varsity: 15-18.99 average per round
Varsity: 19-25 average per round
Awards are also given to the top teams in each classification, as well as a High Overall award for the top team and the top athlete for each day.
The Official Program for the event can be found HERE - https://bit.ly/2026MNChampProgram
The 2026 Trap Shooting Championship is presented by Alexandria Technical & Community College. Additional sponsors include Do-All Outdoors, Ducks Unlimited, Strike Visuals, Walker's, SCHEELS, SoundGear, Explore Alexandria Tourism, Federal Premium Ammunition, Gustavus Adolphus College, LaCanne's Marine, the Minnesota Army National Guard, the Minnesota Air National Guard, the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, the NRA Foundation, the Friends of the NRA, the National Wild Turkey Federation, the North Dakota State College of Science, Outdoor News, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, St. Cloud Technical & Community College, Mark Zauhar, and the US Army.
Full results for each day of the event are available online:
11,184 student athletes from 437 high school teams participated in Minnesota State High School Clay Target League (MNSHSCTL) programs this spring. On behalf of the students, parents, and families that participate, the League sincerely thanks the hundreds of coaches, team staff, and other volunteers that supported them this season.
About the USA Clay Target League: The Minnesota State High School Clay Target League is a division of the USA Clay Target League, a non-profit organization which provides clay target shooting sports opportunities to over 56,000 students on over 2,000 school-approved teams across America each year. Including trap, skeet, sporting clays, and 5-stand programs, the League is the leading provider of clay target shooting sports to secondary and post-secondary schools across the country.
The League is the only 100% school-approved clay target shooting sport program in America. Every team must have school approval to participate. In addition, tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships are provided to qualifying seniors by the League and post-secondary institutions each year.
The League's co-ed and adaptive nature are key attractions to schools nationwide: it's fully Title IX compliant with both male and female athletes competing on the same team, and it's an 'adaptive' sport, which allows students with physical disabilities to take part. Each athlete must complete firearm safety certification before participation.
Visit https://mn.usaclaytarget.com/ for more information.