GRAND ISLAND, Neb. – After competing underneath beautiful sunny skies on day one of this past weekend’s Bronco Invitational (Oct. 13-14), the Concordia University shooting sports squad endured snowy and chilly conditions on the second day. From an individual perspective, the Bulldogs were led by dependable senior Erin Lokke on the women’s side and sophomore Mack Origer and freshman Wyatt Hambly on the men’s side. Shooters from eight college institutions and from the high school level were present at the event in Grand Island, Neb.
This marked the fifth-straight week that head coach Scott Moniot’s program has competed at a Saturday-Sunday event. Concordia was fresh off its own Bulldog Sporting Class in Brainard, Neb., a week earlier.
Lokke got back to competing for the Bulldogs after recently representing her school at the USA Shooting National Championships alongside Emma Van Donselaar in Colorado Springs, Colo. In action at the Bronco Invitational, Lokke (435) finished two targets off Heather Gordon (437) of Fort Hays State University (Kan.) for the honor of high overall female. Despite a malfunction with her gun, Lokke produced impressive results across the board. Among females, she placed first in sporting clays, second in both American skeet and wobble trap and fourth in skeet doubles.
On the men’s side, Hambly and Origer led the way for the Bulldogs by cracking 416 targets apiece. Hambly hit 96 out of 100 targets in America trap. The native of Paso Robles, Calif., was the team’s high overall a week ago at the Bulldog Sporting Classic. The rest of the top five Concordia shooters on the men’s side included freshmen Sam Philson (409), Colten Uitermarkt (403) and Bryon Baca (400).
The Bulldog produced many other top five event finishes, including freshman Nicole Breese in sporting clays (third), junior Monica Dale in American trap (fourth) and in wobble trap (fifth) and freshman Sarah Schwacher in American Skeet (fifth). In terms of high overall, Lokke was followed on the women’s side by Schwacher (406), Breese (400), Dale (395) and freshman Emily Rasmussen (393).
The next competition is a couple weeks away. Concordia will be back in Grand Island on Nov. 3-4 for the ACUI Midwest Championship. It will be the final event of the 2018 calendar year for the Bulldogs, who are also looking forward to a tournament in Tucson, Ariz., Jan. 23-27.