Bulldogs place seventh at National Championships; Lokke, Moore shoot perfect scores

By Jacob Knabel on Mar. 29, 2021 in Shooting Sports

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – After a year without a national championship event (due to COVID-19), the Concordia University Shooting Sports program returned to the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio, Texas, for the 2021 ACUI Collegiate Clay Target Championships. In competition that took place March 25-27, the Bulldogs broke school records in the disciplines of skeet, trap and super sporting while ultimately placing seventh out of 12 teams in the Division 2 breakdown of the national championships.

From an individual perspective, the highlights included graduate student Erin Lokke (skeet) and freshman Wayne Moore (trap) shooting perfect 100/100 scores. Lokke won the women’s skeet national title while Moore tied for first in trap with five others (lost the tiebreaker for first).

Officially, Concordia cracked 1,347 targets towards the final team standings. That total put the Bulldogs 50 targets behind Division 2 national champion Martin Methodist College (Tenn.). A rough performance in sporting clays on the final day of the event pushed the Bulldogs back to seventh. They had placed fourth at the national championships in 2019 (and 10th in 2018). The competition has gotten stiffer.

“It was a bit of an eye opener,” Moniot said. “All of the northern schools struggled in the sporting clays event. A lot of people had expected Fort Hays State to win it, but we knew Martin Methodist was a player when we found out they were in Division 2. It sounds crazy to say that we were disappointed when you break school records in three of the four events, but that just shows how competitive college shooting has become. We had two kids shoot perfect scores, something that has never happened for Concordia before. On one hand it looks like we killed it, but yet we finished seventh. It certainly lights a fire under us. We know what we’re up against.”

Concordia was edged out by rivals such as Fort Hays State University (1,386) and Midland University (1,351) in the team standings. Broken down by discipline among Division 2 teams, the Bulldogs placed fourth in trap (492), sixth in skeet (484), sixth in super sporting (436) and seventh in sporting clays (371). Previous school records were 482 in skeet, 484 in trap and 435 in super sporting.

Lokke’s success at the 2021 ACUI National Championships represented a continuation of her sterling career on the collegiate level. The native of Saint Francis, Minn., was the 2019 female national champion in the category of combined international open events. At the 2021 national championships, Lokke placed fourth among females in combined American events with a total of 273 (three targets out of first place). In that same category, teammate Sarah Schwacher placed ninth (264). Concordia’s highest men’s finisher in combined American events was Colten Uitermarkt at 84th (264). There were more than 100 females and more than 400 males that appeared on the individual leaderboards.

The top five Bulldog individuals in each event that counted towards the team high overall are listed at bottom. Lokke paced Concordia in sporting clays, in addition to skeet. While Moore was perfect in trap, Uitermarkt missed a perfect score by just one target in the same event. The top performers in super sporting were Uitermarkt (94), Mackenze Origer (89), Russell Malterud (85), Lokke (84) and Jack Nelson (84).

In order to satisfy COVID-19 protocols put into place by the ACUI, the national championships prohibited fans and also cut out two events that have been a strength for Concordia – double skeet and double trap. The inclusion of those two disciplines may have pushed the Bulldogs up in the team high overall.

Moniot’s program competed in eight separate competitions throughout the 2020-21 season. Some highlights from the fall included a conference championship at the Prairie Circuit Classic, team titles at the Midland Ice Out and the Hastings Invite and a second place claim at the fifth annual Concordia Bulldog Sporting Invitational. Lokke garnered the individual crown at the conference championships.

Said Moniot, “We hit our targets at a higher percentage than ever before in school history. It has created a whole new dynamic. It’s not just Erin carrying the team. Now we have other kids coming up alongside her and we’re ready to fill those shoes. Our future is looking bright for years down the road. In the fall and spring we were able to put people on the podium consistently. I’m excited to see what we can do to carry on the success of the program.”

Added Moniot of Lokke, who will become a police officer after this semester, “Erin went out with class. She got her job done and did it well.”

2021 ACUI NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS

Full Results

Top five Concordia performances, by event

Skeet
1. Erin Lokke – 100
2. Mackenze Origer – 98
3. Breyer Meeks – 96
4. Wyatt Hambly – 96
5. Jack Nelson – 94

Trap
1. Wayne Moore – 100
2. Colten Uitermarkt – 99
3. Rebecca Tierney – 98
4. Nicole Breese – 98
5. Wyatt Hambly – 97

Sporting Clays
1. Erin Lokke – 76
2. Russell Malterud – 75
3. Monica Dale – 74
4. Sarah Schwacher – 73
5. Wyatt Ericksen – 73

Division 2 Team Standings

1. Martin Methodist College – 1,397
2. Angelo State University – 1,388
3. Fort Hays State University – 1,386
4. Emmanuel College – 1,379
5. Midland University – 1,351
6. University of the Ozarks – 1,350
7. Concordia University – 1,347
8. Jacksonville University – 1,342
9. Clemson University – 1,331
10. Arizona State University – 1,288
11. Wichita State University – 1,232
12. West Texas A&M University – 1,225