BRAINARD, Neb. – After placing second at the event last season, the Concordia University Shooting Sports program rose to the top while hosting the sixth annual Concordia Bulldog Sporting Invitational this past weekend (Oct. 2-3). The Bulldogs beat out a field of 11 teams that convened at Concordia’s home range, Oak Creek Sporting Club in Brainard, Neb. The Bulldogs cracked 1,338 targets as a team, holding off second-place Midland (1,319).
The event featured roughly 150 collegiate competitors. Each athlete shot at 300 overall targets in the disciplines of super sporting and sporting clays. This particular event does not include trap or skeet.
Head Coach Scott Moniot’s squad had just come off a second-place claim at the Prairie Circuit Conference Championships a week earlier. From an individual standpoint, Sarah Schwacher shined while taking the title of high overall female.
“Sarah did a fantastic job to shoot those kind of numbers,” Moniot said. “She was in a zone and outpaced all the females by quite a bit. This is the only event we shoot all year that only has super sporting and sporting clays. This gives us an indication of where we’re sitting in relation to the teams in our area. Midland and Fort Hays State are teams we will face at the national championships. Not everyone was at full strength this weekend, but it was nice to see us perform at a high level.”
Not only was Schwacher (Waterford, Wis.) the top overall female shooter with 270 targets hit, she also was the top female in both super sporting (93/100) and in sporting clays (177/200). On the men’s side of things, Concordia’s Colten Uitermarkt placed second (96/100) in super sporting. Among Bulldogs, Uitermarkt was followed in super sporting by Wyatt Hambly (93), Russell Malterud (93), Schwacher (93) and Damien Stewart (89). The team’s top five in super sporting were Schwacher (177), Malterud (176), Uitermarkt (176), Hambly (173) and Sam Blevins (172).
In terms of high overall performance at the Concordia Invitational, the top Bulldogs were Uitermarkt (272), Schwacher (270), Malterud (269), Hambly (266), Blevins (259) and Stewart (259). The top three shooters at the event were Midland’s Dalton Wilcox (279), Hastings’ Tanner Dager (276) and Fort Hays State’s Hank McVeigh (275).
The final team standings were as follows:
1. Concordia University – 1,338
2. Midland University – 1,319
3. Fort Hays State University – 1,317
4. Hastings College – 1,292
5. Wartburg College – 1,253
6. Iowa Western CC – 1,210
7. Doane University – 1,180
8. University of Wyoming – 1,087
9. University of Nebraska – 1,071
10. Northwest Kansas Technical College – 1,071
11. Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture – 1,048
The quality of the event has earned high praise from opposing teams since its inception in 2016. Much of the action this past weekend took place on Saturday. Most teams finished the shoot on Sunday morning.
“We got a lot of compliments. A lot of teams say this is one of their favorite events,” Moniot said. “Wartburg was new this year and they said it was the first time they’ve had a chance to shoot at anything quite like this. They had a fantastic time and really want to come back.”
Next up for the Bulldogs is the Hastings College Bronco Invitational this Saturday and Sunday in Grand Island, Neb. The shoot is slated to get started at 9 a.m. CT on both days.