In first shoot since Moniot's passing, Bulldogs place fifth at Lindenwood Spring Open

By Jacob Knabel on Mar. 1, 2022 in Shooting Sports

BRIDGETON, Mo. – There may have been some heavy hearts this past weekend (Feb. 26-27) as the Concordia University Shooting Sports team resumed the 2021-22 season without Head Coach Scott Moniot, who took the reins of the program in the summer of 2018. Moniot was called to be with the Lord on Nov. 20, 2021, but his impact carries on. The Bulldogs got back to business and placed fifth high overall in a highly competitive Lindenwood University Spring Open held at Gateway Gun Club in Bridgeton, Mo.

While the search continues for the next head coach of the program, Concordia has gotten help from all-time great Bulldog Erin Lokke and Russell Malterud remains the graduate assistant coach.

The first shoot of the spring semester saw the Bulldogs crack a total of 1,414 targets while competing in the disciplines of sporting clays, skeet and trap. Concordia may have placed fifth (out of 11 teams), but it wasn’t far behind the top four teams who descended upon the St. Louis area: William Penn (1,422), Hillsdale (1,421), Midland (1,416) and Iowa Western (1,415). The Bulldogs did manage to outgun its competition in sporting clays with a total of 462. Meanwhile, Concordia tied for fifth in trap (479) and placed sixth in skeet (473).

Individually, Colten Uitermarkt led the Bulldogs to the team sporting clays title while placing in a tie for first with 97 targets hit in that discipline. The next best Concordia shooters in sporting clays were Sam Blevins (93), Wyatt Hambly (93), Wyatt Eriksen (91), Breyer Meeks (88) and Jack Nelson (88).

In trap, the top Bulldogs were Meeks (98), Nelson (97), Blevins (95), Abby Kepplin (95), Hambly (94) and Moore (94). Finally, the team was paced in skeet by Sarah Schwacher (97), Damien Stewart (96), Hambly (94), Buchannan Tietjen (93), Cally Rogers (93), Colten Uitermarkt (93) and Emily Rasmussen (93).

In terms of high overall, Concordia’s top 10 shooters at the Lindenwood Open were:

·        Wyatt Hambly – 281

·        Colten Uitermarkt – 280

·        Bryer Meeks – 278

·        Jack Nelson – 274

·        Sam Blevins – 272

·        Wyatt Eriksen – 271

·        Damien Stewart – 271

·        Tom Sosso – 270

·        Wayne Moore – 263

·        Sarah Schwacher – 263

The Bulldogs will return to action this Saturday and Sunday at the Doane University Tiger Invitational held at Lincoln Trap & Skeet in Lincoln, Neb. The Doane Invite and the Simpson College Invitational (March 12-13) will be the final two events this season prior to the ACUI National Championships later this month.