BRAINARD, Neb. – More than 150 competitors were on hand as Concordia University Shooting Sports hosted the seventh annual Concordia Bulldog Sporting Invitational at Oak Creek Sporting Club in Brainard, Neb., this past weekend (Oct. 1-2). By event’s end, the Bulldogs found themselves in fourth place out of the 11 teams that made their way to Oak Creek. Concordia’s top five shooters combined to bust 1,338 targets towards the high overall standings.
The format featured 200 sporting and 100 super sporting clay targets for each athlete who navigated the course in Brainard. The Concordia Invite marked the fourth outing this fall for Head Coach Dylan Owens’ squad. Twenty-five Bulldogs were in action over the two-day event.
“The event went about as well as we could have asked from an organizational standpoint,” Owens said. “We were there early on Saturday and started on time and had 174 athletes competing. It ran really smoothly. The parents stepped up really well and we had a family feel for the home event, which is what you really want. As far as competition, we saw some of our best scores of the year so far. The targets were set a little softer than other events we’ve been to, but the quality of the shooters there was great.”
The invite included a Sunday breakfast for everyone in attendance and a devotional message from Concordia campus pastor Ryan Matthias. Once the final rounds were fired, freshman Tanner Muff of Lincoln, Neb, emerged as Concordia’s top shooter with a total of 277/300. The team’s top five also included Jack Nelson (270), Breyer Meeks (269), Joe Blevins (264) and Katie Welker (258). Muff finished 13th best among college males while Welker placed eighth among college females at the event.
The sixth through 10 performers for the Bulldogs were Brennen Stones (255), Claire Kee (253), Ames Andelt (252), Cael Washburn (252), Buchannan Tietjen (250) and Emily Uitermarkt (250). Eleven Concordia athletes knocked out at least 250 targets on the weekend. There were three different Uitermarkts who competed, including Bulldog graduate Colten Uitermarkt, who cracked 286 targets (third best overall).
The top three teams that placed above Concordia were Fort Hays State University (1,422), William Penn University (1,401) and Midland University (1,357). Colleges from four different states made the trip to Oak Creek: Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming.
A break in the schedule will give Concordia a chance to reset and work on some areas that need fine-tuning. Said Owens, “Our sporting clays still needs some work. We’re going to take this week off and next week we’ll have some practices before fall break. We’re going to focus on sporting clays. There is some pre-shot planning and shot execution we need to work on at more than just three-pair. We have to really grind with that repetition and do it over and over again.”
Concordia Invite HOA team standings
1. Fort Hays State University - 1,422
2. William Penn University - 1,401
3. Midland University - 1,357
4. Concordia University - 1,338
5. Iowa Western Community College - 1,323
6. Doane University - 1,300
7. Wartburg College - 1,296
8. Northwest Kansas Technical College - 1,242
9. University of Nebraska-Lincoln - 1,210
10. Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture - 1,144
11. University of Wyoming - 1,117
Up next on the schedule will be the NCSSAA Central Regional Qualifier hosted by Simpson College in Waukee, Iowa, Oct. 21-23. The event will serve as a qualifier for nationals. There are three events remaining on the fall schedule. The national championships will take place in the spring of 2023.