GRAND ISLAND, Neb. – In the final official event of the 2022-23 collegiate season, Concordia University Shooting Sports was represented by seven competitors at its own Concordia Bulldog International Tournament held at Heartland Public Shooting Park in Grand Island, Neb., April 1-2. As the major highlights, Jack Nelson took home the individual title in men’s Bunker while Katie Welker claimed the crown in women’s Bunker. The small field at the event tested its skills in both Bunker and in International Skeet.
The event was designed to provide opportunities for athletes who want to compete in the international disciplines, which are different than what the Bulldogs compete in at qualifying and national competitions. Head Coach Dylan Owens hopes to grow this event moving forward.
“All in all, it was a good event,” Owens said. “We want it to be bigger in the future. Being after nationals and being a late addition to the schedule, it was tough to get as many people to sign up. We wanted to give our athletes an opportunity to do something they really enjoy because there aren’t that many international shoots to go to.”
For those unfamiliar, the NCSSAA helps explain international bunker trap and skeet on its website. As the organization states, “Bunker has five shooting stations, but rather than having only one machine in a trap house, it has fifteen fixed machines housed in a bunker. The targets fly faster and at a wider angle than American Trap, which makes it considerably more difficult. International Skeet features a low-gun position and variable-timing target release. Similarly to Bunker, the speed of the targets thrown in International Skeet is much faster than in American Skeet.”
Concordia entered four shooters into the Bunker competition, which was formatted to have each athlete take aim at 125 targets. Nelson cracked 96 targets and was followed by teammates in Sam Blevins (93), Welker (73) and Haley Schmutzer (55). Then in the finals, Nelson held off the University of Nebraska’s Trevor Lesinski, 37-33, while Welker outdueled Schmutzer, 12-9.
In International Skeet, three Bulldogs shot 125 targets: Breyer Meeks (88), Cael Washburn (65) and Kaylee Hinton. Meeks made the biggest push for a title before Matthew Brindley of William Penn University (Iowa) and Kaitlyn Lily of Nebraska came away with championships.
Throughout 2022-23, Owens’ squads competed in nine events. For most Bulldogs, the season concluded at the 2023 NCSSAA National Championships in Las Vegas, where Concordia placed third high overall as a team. A recap of that event can be found HERE.
Said Owens, “I’m really proud of how everyone did all season. Everyone put a lot of work in, and it showed in their scores. The way people had to qualify for nationals was a completely different thing than they were used to. I’m really excited for the fall. We have some good recruits coming in. We’ve set a standard for the future of the program. We return a lot of our top HOA athletes, so that’s pretty big.”
Concordia International Tournament Event Champions
Men’s Bunker – Jack Nelson, Concordia
Women’s Bunker – Katie Welker, Concordia
Men’s International Skeet – Matthew Brindley, William Penn
Women’s International Skeet – Kaitlyn Lily, Nebraska