SEWARD, Neb. – Following a solid first season as a member of the Concordia University shooting sports program, Emma Van Donselaar has stayed sharp this summer while competing at prestigious national events. In her last opportunity as a junior competitor, the native of Oskaloosa, Iowa, placed fourth in the Junior National Championship hosted by USA shooting in Colorado Springs, Colo., in the middle of June. As a result, Van Donselaar earned a spot on the Team USA Junior Olympic squad and a USA Shooting Vest.
Said Van Donselaar, “I am very happy with where I am in the sport right now. It takes between three to four years to really begin to shoot this discipline well, and to be competitive at this point is awesome.”
Also while in Colorado Springs, Van Donselaar placed 10th among women (fourth in the junior division) at the USA Shooting Shotgun National Championships. The junior event that followed featured a number of the best international female skeet shooters in the country. Van Donselaar was just one spot off of a podium finish.
Van Donselaar embarked on her competitive shooting journey in junior high where she competed in American Trap, American Skeet and Sporting Clays. Along the way she has earned several honors, including a state championship. In 2017 she was a member of the National Skeet Shooting Associations All-American Skeet team. Two years ago, with the help of Concordia head coach Scott Moniot, she began the challenging transition to International Skeet. International Skeet is one of the two shotgun disciplines that are an Olympic event and shot on the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup.
In addition to continuing her college career as a Bulldog, Van Donselaar plans to compete at upcoming events such as the Scholastic Clay Target Program International National Championships in Colorado Springs later this month and the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trails in Kerrville, Texas, this fall.