St. Anthony Shooters Participate in Clay Target League

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Published on June 7 2017 9:32 am
Last Updated on June 8 2017 7:06 am
Written by Millie Lange

Two hundred and fifty-seven students from 12 Illinois high schools participated in the Illinois State High School Clay Target League's 2017 spring trap shooting season this spring. Effingham St. Anthony High School had 24 players competing during the season.

"It's the first year we've had a team," said St. Anthony Coach Corey Guy. "We started shooting at the beginning of April. There were two weeks of practice and five weeks of competition. We shot all the rounds at the Effingham County Sportsman's Club. They were super accommodating. They helped us and provided us with everything and we very much appreciate all they did.

"Although the program is supported by the school, the school didn't have to pay any money. The kids did fund-raising to pay for their expenses. The sport is actually considered more of a club activity. We had 21 boys and three girls participate.

"We go out and shoot two rounds of 25 targets each week and then we post our scores online. Teams from other schools post their scores and then you get ranked by how you did against those schools. The only time we actually get together to participate against each other is at the State Tournament."

Conferences are determined by team size rather than geographic location for fair competition. Athletes earn True Team scoring points as determined by their performance and ranking against all athlete scores within their team's conference. The team score and overall standings are calculated and posted on the league's website. Athletes and their families may track their individual and team performance on their computer via the league's website and by the new Shooter Performance Tracker mobile app.

Eight players from St. Anthony went to the State Tournament to shoot at Brittany Shooting Park in Bunker Hill last weekend. Those eight players included Aiden Bailey, Austin Kline, Braden Quandt, Mitchell Heuerman, William Lawrence, Jenna Woltman, Wade Wenthe and Peyton Fearday.

Woltman took second place in the Novice Female Group and Heuerman finished second in the Junior Varsity Boys Group. There were athletes from 12 high schools competing.