Kids show skill in high-caliber event

MAT-SU — Forty-six youth shooters from the Mat-Su and Homer competed this past weekend in the Alaska Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) state championships in five different divisions and in two shotgun disciplines at the Grouse Ridge Shooting Grounds near Wasilla. This was a nationally sanctioned shooting event and the kids’ scores were registered at both the state and national levels.

The Grouse Ridge Rangers shooting team draws youth shooters from all over the Valley.

The team has kids from Houston, Wasilla, Colony and Palmer high and middle schools, and Career Tech. The Homer squad, the Kachemak Skeeters, had shooters from both Homer high and middle schools. A few shooters were from homeschooling settings.

The kids shot in five different divisions. The senior varsity shooters are high school kids who are in their second year or more in the SCTP. Senior junior varsity shooters are high schoolers in their first year in the shooting program. The intermediate advanced shooters are middle school students in their second year or more. Intermediate entry shooters are middle schoolers in their first year of shooting. The rookie category is reserved for youth shooters who are in elementary school. The two disciplines were trap shooting and sporting clays events. Fifty targets were shot for trap and 100 targets were scored for sporting clays.

The high trap score went to Dillon Cook with a score of 40. The high sporting clays score belonged to Hunter Smith with an 87. The high overall boys’ shooter was Dillon Cook with a combined score of 126. The high overall girls’ shooter was Raynie Hamlin with a combined score of 80. Many other medals were awarded to individuals and teams in the five divisions.

To participate in the program, a youth shooter must maintain grade levels as if they were participating in a school-sanctioned sport like football or soccer. They commit to a weekly practice schedule and can go on to possibly earn college scholarships and even membership on an Olympic shooting team. Corey Cogdell, the bronze medal winner in the 2008 Olympics in shotgun, is from Palmer and participated in the SCTP program.

The scholastic clay target program is only a few years old in Alaska, but is well established in the Lower 48. Neil Moss, president and state advisor for the Alaska chapter of SCTP, has been working to get the program established in other parts of the state. Efforts are underway to establish shooting teams in Fairbanks, Seward, Valdez, Kenai, Cordova and other locations. To learn more about the program, contact Neil Moss at 355-0962.