By Lauren Zedlar
Elm Staff Writer
The Harvest Moon Super Short began on Saturday, Sept. 18. The competition was held at the Millington Sportsmen Association in Millington, Md. The team shot trap on Saturday and sporting clays on Sunday.
Trap shooting is when the target comes from a single house located away from the shooter. Each shooter receives 100 targets that are split into four rounds of 25.
The National Sporting Clays Association ranks shooters into different classes based on skill level. The classes are Master, AA, A, B, C, D, and E. New shooters are placed in the D class and progress based on their competition play in their individual class.
In class AA, sophomore Gage Williams had 65 hits. Junior Cater Weems had 78 hits in class C.
Seniors Lanning Tyrrel and Will Sears each had 78 hits in class D. Class D also consisted of three other Shoremen: junior Sean Scott, freshman Hunter Clark, and senior Jack Maher.
Scott and Clark each had 70 hits and Maher followed with 51 hits.
Junior Emma Smith had 62 hits in class E. Sophomore Halley Donati finished close behind her teammate with 61 hits also in class E.
On Sunday, Sept. 19, the team shot skeet in the Annie Oakley Classic at Hopkins Farm in Kennedyville, Md. The shoots consisted of 100 targets, but with different target presentations. In shooting skeet, the targets are launched from multiple machines that intersect in front of the shooter. Seven out of nine of the WC team hit 90 or more targets.
In the B class, Sears led the pack with 97 hits, Clark with 92 hits, and Williams with 90. In the C class, Scott led the team with 94 hits, Weems with 92 hits. In the D class Maher led the team with 93 hits; Donati had 91, Tyrell had 89 and freshman Katie Opielski ended with 79.
“It’s great to be back shooting with the team,” Sears said. “Everyone came out and shot their best last weekend. We had many shooters place as well as shoot their personal best.”
On Sept. 25, the WC trap & skeet team competed again in the Charlie Murphy event. This took place at Sudlersville, Md. at the Skeet Club, which is the WC team’s home club.
Six of the players competed in the 12 gauge championships, but all athletes helped out with the event. Many took on the roles of staff, acting as scorekeepers and trap loaders.
Williams had his personal best by hitting 99 of the targets, only missing the 62nd target. This led him to win the event.
Other players also beat personal records during the weekend. Donati and Scott each hit 96 targets and made 25 straight. Sears hit 25 straight in his second round, hit 93 targets in total, and finished first in the D class.
Junior Greg Carpenter hit 93 targets, finishing second in the A class and Tyrell hit 83 targets, finishing second in the D class. The WC trap & skeet’s next scheduled competition is Saturday, Oct. 9 at the George Mason University Eastern Championships in Va.
Photo courtesy of Eric Swenson