LINCOLN, Neb. – As part of a field featuring competitors from 16 institutions, the Concordia University, Nebraska Shooting Sports team placed fourth high overall (HOA) at the Midland Warrior Open held on Sept. 21-22. Twenty athletes represented the Bulldogs at the event staged at Lincoln Trap & Skeet Club, where Devin Harris and Sam Blevins both placed inside the top 20 individually. Concordia posted top five team scores in each of the three disciplines that were contested: sporting, skeet and trap.
The Midland Open marked the third outing of the season for Head Coach Dylan Owens’ squad. The Bulldogs cracked a total of 1,354 targets towards the team leaderboard. The top three place finishers were Midland University (1,410), William Penn University (1,396) and Fort Hays State University (1,391).
By event, Concordia turned in Midland Open team placements of fourth in skeet (488/500), tied for fourth in trap (482/500) and fifth in sporting (404/500). Harris (Kansas City, Mo.) and Blevins (La Grange, Ky.) continue to stand out from an individual perspective. Harris emerged as the team’s top HOA shooter with 278 targets busted (90 trap, 98 skeet and 90 sporting) over the weekend. Blevins was just one target off Harris with a total of 277 (98 trap, 98 skeet and 81 sporting). On the HOA individual leaderboard, Harris placed in a tie for 14th and Blevins tied for 17th out of 235 competitors.
In trap, the Bulldogs had five individuals shoot 94 or better, led by the 98 from Blevins. He was followed by Carter McKenna (97), Katie Welker (97), Mason Ward (96) and Kaylee Hinton (94). In skeet, five Concordia athletes registered a 97 or better: Harris (98), Blevins (98), Ward (98), Trevor Burch (97) and Breyer Meeks (97). The team leaders in sporting were Harris (90), Blevins (81), Burch (79), Brennen Stones (78), Meeks (76) and Buchannan Tietjen (76).
Following Harris and Blevins, Concordia’s HOA top 10 at the Midland Open featured Burch (269), Tietjen (265), Ward (265), Meeks (263), McKenna (262), Welker (260), Hinton (259) and Stones (258). Through the first three shoots of the 2024-25 season, three different Bulldogs have finished atop the team’s HOA leaderboard: Stones at the Fort Hays State Shoot, Blevins at the Simpson Invite and Harris at the Midland Open.
The Prairie Circuit Conference Championships are up next. The conference shoot will take place at Lincoln County Wildlife Gun Club in North Platte, Neb., Friday through Sunday. At the 2023 Prairie Circuit Conference Championships, Concordia placed third behind Fort Hays State and Midland. There were 11 teams that made up last season’s conference shoot.