Clay targets took a beating during the opening day of the Clay Target League State Tournament Saturday at the Aberdeen Gun Club.

Class 1A shooters had their opportunity to compete in the tourney, while Class 2A shooters will compete today.

Among the winners were Gideon Miller of Aberdeen Christian who finished first in the Novice division. The overall winner hitting all 100 targets was Jena Kopp of Hot Springs.

Aberdeen Roncalli’s Zane Backous finished third in the High Gun Male division, hitting 98 out of 100 targets.

The sophomore to be is a multi-sport athlete who also competes in football, basketball, track and field, and baseball.

“We’re right in the middle of baseball season,” Backous said. “We actually have a game today that I’m missing for this, but that’s alright.”

Backous drew a comparison between baseball and trapshooting.

“Baseball and trapshooting are both vey mental sports along with skill. A big part of the game is mental,” he said. “In baseball, you make an error or have a bad throw or something, you have to brush it off, go to the next play. In trapshooting, you miss a bird, you have to go to the next clay, I guess.”

Backous, who has hit 137 targets in a row in the past, said the key to trapshooting is practice.

“It is all muscle memory,” he said. “The more you shoot, the better you’re going to get.”

ON TARGET

One of the state’s premier shooters this past season has been Winner-Colome’s Katie Welker.

The recent graduate of Colome High School missed just three targets during the regular season and missed only once on Saturday to finish as the High Gun Female winner and tied for second overall.

“My dad shot before I did and my brothers all shot,” Welker said, “so a lot of my childhood was spent on the trap range watching them all shoot and it just caught my attention, and I’ve loved it ever since.”

And now she shoots better than all of them.

“Oh yeah, and they know it, too,” Welker said.

Welker, who this past season had three nights of 50 perfect targets, is bound for Concordia College in Seward, Neb., this fall and will be a member of the shooting team there.

With her knack for blasting targets, Welker knows the expecations are pretty high every time she steps up to the line.

“There can be a lot of pressure,” Welker said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself, personally, just because I know how good I can be and how I should shoot, but for the most part I don’t feel pressure from anyone else.”

Welker has been a bit of pioneer in the fast growing sport. While the number of boys still outpace the number of girls, there are more females starting to participate in trapshooting.

“I met a girl last week in Belle Fourche that came up to me and introduced herself. Her dad later on told my mom that she had been looking up to me,” Welker said. “It’s nice having that feeling knowing that people look to you up and try to do what you do.”

ENJOYING THE EXPERIENCE

There were shooters with all kinds of stances and styles during the opening day of the competition.

They all seemed to have one thing in common: they were enjoying taking their turns at hitting the clay targets.

“It’s just fun to shoot,” said upcoming freshman Michael Bjorgaard of Warner.

Bjorgaard, who also competes in basketball and track and field, said that’s the main reason he got into trapshooting.

“I just like to shoot and my friends shot,” Bjorgaard said.

He said there are two major differences between the regular season where competition is virtual and the state tournament.

“You shoot a hundred rounds instead of 50,” Bjorgaard said of the state event, “and there’s more people.”

TIGER SHOOTER

The Groton Tigers have a variety of solid shooters on their team.

Part of that comes from productive practices that prepares the athletes for competition, according to Hollie Frost.

“I’d say you just take the time in practice and do what you need to do to get it figured out, so that when it comes to state tournament time you’re not freaking out,” Frost said. “You know what you have going on, and what’s good for you and what’s not good for you.”

The senior to be also plays volleyball. She said there is one major difference between the two sports.

“Trapshooting (requires) more patience,” Frost said. “In volleyball you have to go for it all the time, because you’re constantly on the move.”

When asked what her friends thought of her competing in a sport with guns, Frost responded, “They’re like well, if we go out in the wilderness, then Hollie will be able to protect us, but other than that, we don’t really care.”

FORM AND FOLLOW THROUGH

There were multiple shooters competing on Saturday who are involved in other sports.

One of those is Aberdeen Christian’s Brenden Stapp. The junior to be who competes in football, basketball, and track and field, saw a comparison between shooting a basketball and shooting a target.

“I’d say some of the keys to good trapshooting is your stance and making sure you always follow through after you shoot,” Stapp said. “It’s similar to basketball with your free-throw shot to follow through.”

He said another key, regardless of the sport, is having the proper mindset and keeping things in perspective if you things don’t go as planned.

“It’s just getting ready for the next play,” Stapp said, “putting the last play behind you and focusing on the present.”

Stapp got his start in trapshooting three years ago.

“I just started on their summer league at the Aberdeen Gun Club and I just enjoyed it as a hobby. It’s just something fun to do,” he said. “I’m actually not a big hunter, but I just enjoy coming out and doing trapshooting.”

To see complete first day results, click on the following link:

https://claytargetscoring.com/tournament/allWinners.php?class=all&tournState=SD&userType=tournpub&tournamentID=208&tournDateID=369&tournType=trap