LINCOLN, Neb. – In another battle with familiar rivals, the Concordia University Shooting Sports team placed second while in action at the three-day Midland Warrior Open (Sept. 17-19) held at Lincoln Trap & Skeet Club. In the process of knocking out 1,913 targets as a team, the Bulldogs broke the program record in sporting clays. Individually, Colten Uitermarkt (high male) and Nicole Breese (high female) were the top shooters in super sporting at the Warrior Open.
Head Coach Scott Moniot’s squad placed behind only Fort Hays State University (Kan.) (1,935) on the overall team leaderboard. This marked the second outing of the season for Concordia, following the previous week’s Fort Hays State Intercollegiate Shoot.
Broken down by discipline, the Bulldogs turned in Warrior Open placements of first in super sporting, second in sporting clays, second in double skeet and third in skeet. Both Utitermarkt and Wyatt Hambly cracked 49/50 targets in super sporting while Breese hit 45 as the top female. The top contributors to the new school record in sporting clays were Hambly (95), Uitermarkt (94), Wyatt Eriksen (93), Bryer Meeks (93), Sarah Schwacher (93), Mackenzie Origer (92) and Damien Stewart (92). The program sporting clays record now stands at 468, eclipsing the previous standard of 457.
In terms of high overall individuals, Uitermarkt (Otley, Iowa) led the way for Concordia with a total of 387. That figure put him just one target off the first-place performance of Fort Hays State’s Riley Ross (388). In addition, Schwacher (371) was just three targets behind Fort Hays State’s Katie Peterson for the title of high overall female. The top five HOA for the Bulldogs also included Hambly (373), Meeks (370) and Origer (366).
Among other highlights, Uitermarkt and Breese (both 99/100) shot near perfect scores in skeet with Schwacher (98) close behind. As part of his impressive weekend, Uitermarkt also shot 48 in double skeet and 97 in trap. Two of his teammates managed to edge him in trap – Meeks and Russell Malterud (98 apiece).
The Warrior Open featured 170 competitors from 11 different institutions. A total of 33 Bulldogs took part in the event. Concordia placed above in-state foes such Doane, Hastings and Wayne State College.
Next up, the Bulldogs hope to defend their conference title from a year ago as they prepare for the Prairie Circuit Conference Championships in North Platte, Neb. The event will run Friday through Sunday with action beginning at 9 a.m. CT each day. At the 2020 conference shoot, Concordia cracked 2,227 targets while beating out Midland (2,257) and Connors State College (2,155).