On Saturday, the Hillsdale Shotgun team hosted the second American Trap Association shoot with 100 American Trap targets. Thirty-seven total shooters, comprised of high school, collegiate and elder participants were present.
Junior Lucas Pieraccini had the highest team score with 98 targets, and was succeeded by freshmen Tommy Rodgers, with 97 targets, and Anthony LaMacchia, 96.
With looming lighting and sporadic rain showers during the competition, the team was fortunate to shoot early enough to avoid the grim storms.
“Despite initially poor weather conditions, our shooting wasn’t really affected,” senior Emanuel Boyer said.
Senior Amanda Klug says she is excited to have their newest member, sophomore Kylar Kuzio, shoot in her second official team competition.
“She is a great addition to the team,” Klug said. “And it’s nice to have another girl around.”
Kuzio has been shooting for a total of five years and competed for her high school’s trap team from freshman to senior year.
“The shoot last weekend was really exciting but I put a lot of pressure on myself,” Kuzio said.
Her extensive background in trap has given her a solid foundation going forward in the season. In high school, she and her friends would go to the range on weekends and shoot sporting clays for fun said Kuzio. Last spring was the first time she ever encountered skeet shooting.
“I’m most excited for skeet because it’s a challenge,” Kuzio said. “It’s more fun to tackle a new animal.”
Coaches and team members said they were glad to watch some of their potential high school recruits perform well during the shoot. One of whom shot 99 targets out of a 100.
Klug, freshman Brandon Korhonen, and sophomore Barrett Moore each shot their best round of trap in competition this season.
“I focused on each shot that I was taking, rather than the shots already taken and the ones still to come,” Moore said.
Klug and other teammates also attempted to adapt such a mindset during the competition.
“Besides focusing on each shot individually, I had three or four songs that I would keep repeating the lyrics in my head which helped block out distractions,” Klug said.
Assistant Coach Jordan Hintz was pleased with the team’s progress this season.
“We had our best composite trap score as a team in competition,” Hintz said.
Up to this point, the team has been practicing mostly the physical techniques for competitions, but are starting to develop mental strategies to endure the longer rounds of skeet and trap to come as well.
The team next competes Oct. 13 and 14 at the Association of College Unions International Midwest Regional shoot in Sparta, Ill. They look forward to shooting trap, skeet, sporting clays, and super sporting clays.