GRAND ISLAND, Neb. – In the final meet of the fall, the Concordia University shooting sports team placed fourth high overall (HOA) among 14 competing schools in attendance at the ACUI Midwest Championship in Grand Island, Neb., this past weekend (Nov. 2-3). Junior Rebecca Tierney won the women’s trap competition while she and her teammates also dominated in skeet, an event in which seven Bulldogs (men/women) cracked 95 targets or more. Concordia was credited with 1,527 targets in the team scoring.
Head coach Scott Moniot’s squad also appeared at five other meets throughout the fall portion of its schedule. A pair of new school team records were broken at the Hastings Bronco Invitational the last time out. In addition, members of the team volunteered at the Kids & Clays Sporting Clays Tournament (Oct. 18-20) in support of Ronald McDonald House Charities.
Concordia’s crew of shooters on the female side is particularly impressive. In terms of women’s HOA, sophomore Nicole Breese finished second and sophomore Sarah Schwacher placed third. The rest of the team did not compete in all events in order to qualify for the overall leaderboard. In women’s skeet, Schwacher (96), Tierney (96), juniors Hannah Wiedebush (96) and Emma Van Donselaar (95) and Breese (95) each knocked out 95 of a possible 100 targets. They went 2-3-4-5-6 in that category.
Sticking with the women, Tierney emerged from a shoot off as the champion in women’s trap with a score of 94. Breese (92), graduate student Erin Lokke (92) and Schwacher (90) were not far behind. In women’s sporting clays, Schwacher (78), Breese (77) and senior Sabra Moore (77) each placed in the top six. Meanwhile, Breese (41) slotted in at No. 3 in women’s super sporting.
On the men’s side, sophomore Colten Uitermarkt made a push for a title in skeet. He hit 99 targets and placed second after being held off in a shoot off by a competitor from Midland. In that same event, freshman Cole Hammond shot a 97 and tied for fifth place. Eight other Bulldog men cracked 90 or more targets in skeet, including junior Mackenze Origer (94) and sophomore Wyatt Hambly (94). Senior Ethan Cradick tied for sixth in men’s sporting clays with an 88.
Other top performances from the men were delivered by Hambly in trap (94) and Hammond in super sporting (44). Each of the men’s disciplines had more than 100 shooters present for the competition.
The season will resume again in late January/early February at the ACUI Super Shoot in both Kerville and San Antonio, Texas. The 2019-20 season ultimately culminates with the ACUI National Championships in San Antonio in the spring of 2020.