RESULTS: Concordia only (PDF) | Full Results
BRAINARD, Neb. – Eighteen Bulldogs entered the fray in what is believed to be the largest field in the 10-year history of the Concordia Bulldog Sporting Invitational. When the dust settled on Saturday (Feb. 28), Concordia University, Nebraska Shooting Sports found itself in seventh place out of 13 teams in competition at Oak Creek Sporting Club in Brainard, Neb. There were 178 total athletes who tested themselves by taking aim at 200 sporting and 100 super sporting clay targets.
The home invite marked the first outing of the spring semester for Head Coach Dylan Owens’ Bulldogs. Concordia is quickly ramping things back up with the national championships coming in mid-March.
“We started off yesterday with fantastic weather, just a bit windy,” Owens said. “We put up a really good super sporting score. We could have had a few more targets, but I’m definitely not upset with a 443. Sam (Blevins) and Devin (Harris) both did really, really well and we had Katie (Welker), Faith (Ritchie) and Cael (Washburn) back them up. That was a huge help. Then we started off this morning with a lot colder weather. There was a lot of wind. That hurt us a little bit, but we still came out with some good scores. Devin came out with a 93 on the red course. On the green course, our scores just weren’t as high as we would have wanted. All in all, it was great preparation for nationals.”
Temperatures hovering around 70 degrees greeted the field on Friday afternoon at Oak Creek. The invite began with super sporting on the wide-open blue course. The grad student Blevins (La Grange, Ky.) led the way by shooting 92/100 on day one. Harris was hot on his heels with a 91 while Welker shot 88. The action shifted to Oak Creek’s red and green courses on day two.
A senior from Hamill, S.D., Welker put together a sterling fall semester. She carried that success over into the Concordia Invite as she finished with a total score of 262/300 after busting 174 total targets in sporting on day two of the event. Welker placed fourth high overall amongst 44 women’s shooters. Meanwhile, Harris tied for 20th HOA on the men’s side with 266 total targets cracked.
The team’s top five competitors on the weekend, from an HOA perspective, were Harris, Welker, Clayton Gellerman (250), Blevins (248) and Kaylee Hinton (242). Next in line were Colby Gaines (241), Washburn (239), Delayna Rife (235), Ritchie (232) and Cody Carlson (226) in rounding out Concordia’s top 10.
The top three team place finishers at the Concordia Invite were Midland University (1,390), William Penn University (1,376) and Fort Hays State University (1,357). The Bulldogs placed above in-state competition such as the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Wayne State College.
On Saturday evening, Concordia held a dinner to honor its three seniors: Kaylee Hinton (Hiawatha, Kan.), Paige Roger (Fairmont, Minn.) and Katie Welker (Hamill, S.D.). Their careers have aligned with Owens’ four seasons as head coach.
Said Owens in summing up the weekend, “I was seeing a lot of good things, which is good, especially with not having a lot of practice before the spring season started. This was definitely the largest Bulldog shoot ever. We had 178 competitors. We were almost completely maxed out. We appreciate all the teams coming out. Oak Creek always does a fantastic job hosting. We ran ahead on every single rotation.”
As a precursor to the ACUI Collegiate Clay Target National Championships (March 15-21), the Bulldogs will compete at next week’s Iowa Western Community College Invite (March 7-8). The event will take place at Lincoln Trap & Skeet Club in Lincoln, Neb.