RESULTS: Concordia only (PDF) | Full Results
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. – In action for the third straight weekend, Concordia University, Nebraska Shooting Sports earned its highest team place finish of the 2026-27 season to date. The Bulldogs busted 1,797 targets towards the team HOA (high overall) leaderboard and landed in second out of 12 programs represented at the 2026 Hastings College Invitational contested at Heartland Public Shooting Park in Grand Island, Neb., Oct. 3-4. Individually, Devin Harris placed as the HOA runner up and Katie Welker-Luetje claimed women’s HOA and 5-stand championships.
Head Coach Dylan Owens’ Bulldogs finished 38 targets shy of Iowa Western Community College (1,835) for the team title. The format for the Hastings Invite included 100 targets each in trap, doubles skeet, sporting and super sporting and 50 in 5-stand. Comfortable temperatures and dry weather made for pleasant conditions.
“We started off the weekend, and I told the team two things,” Owens said. “First, no excuses. Conditions might not be favorable, or they might be incredibly favorable. Things change constantly, especially at Grand Island. The second thing was, let's just not quit. Just keep shooting. Every single target counts. Keep grinding every target. They really worked hard, and it looked to me like they had some of the most fun they've had in a couple of weeks, which was really great to see. I think the scores showed it, even if they weren't our best scores in some of the events. The team really did well, and it was really, really fun to be a part of and watch.”
The team’s performances in doubles skeet were a major highlight. Five Bulldogs shot 90 or better in the event: Harris (95), Clayton Gellerman (94), Welker-Luetje (92), Cody Carlson (90) and Faith Ritchie (90). The team total of 461 placed Concordia second in doubles skeet. At the Hastings Invite, the Bulldogs also shot team scores of 477 in trap, 447 in super sporting, 412 in sporting clays and 216 in 5-stand. Rarely included in collegiate shoots, 5-stand did not factor into HOA scoring.
The Kansas City native Harris wound up with an HOA total of 367/400, which tied him for first place with Iowa Western’s Leo Brand. In a shoot-off, Brand prevailed for HOA honors. On the women’s side, Welker-Luetje shot 364 for the HOA championship. Welker-Luetje won a shoot-off in 5-stand and settled for runner-up in sporting clays after being edged in another shoot-off. From an HOA perspective, Concordia’s top five also included Gellerman (361), Jerry Kaibel (345) and Delayna Rife (338).
Owens showered praise upon athletes up and down the roster. In other events, Rife equaled Welker-Luetje for the team’s top trap score (98), Harris shot a 91 in sporting clays, Gellerman and Welker-Luetje both cracked 93 targets in super sporting and Gellerman busted 46 targets in 5-stand.
Said Owens, “Shout-out to Faith. She shot a 90 in doubles skeet, which really, really helped us. Her and Cody both ran 90s. That second-place double-skeet score was something I'm really, really happy with. Having five scores in the 90s in double skeet—I'll take that any weekend we can make that happen. We rely heavily on Katie and Devin, but Clayton really, really did well this weekend. He made the top five in every single event, including being one of our high scores in super and the high score in 5-stand for us. He had a great weekend. Jerry also shot really, really well.”
Based on HOA scores, Concordia’s six through 10 competitors were Carlson (324), Brianna Helsene (323), Lane Schoff (321), Jaggar Luetje (313) and Grace Douglas (303). A total of 19 Bulldogs appeared at the Hastings Invite. That group included freshman Meighan Smith, who competed in a powerlifting meet on Saturday before joining her shooting sports teammates on Sunday.
After three straight weekends of action, the Bulldogs will be idle until competing at the Southeast Community College Invitational at Lincoln Trap & Skeet Club in Lincoln, Neb., on Oct. 24-25. That event will mark the end of the fall semester slate for Concordia. The complete schedule can be found HERE.