WAUKEE, Iowa – From week one to week two of the 2024-25 season, Concordia University Shooting Sports displayed marked improvement across the board. Led by a 99 from Carter McKenna in trap, the Bulldogs crept back closer to their expectations and placed fourth high overall (HOA) at the Simpson College Invite held on Sept. 14-15. All competitors were tasked with 350 targets in the disciplines of trap, sporting, skeet and super sporting at New Pioneer Gun Club in Waukee, Iowa.
Head Coach Dylan Owens’ squad cracked 1,577 targets towards the HOA team leaderboard. The top three finishers were William Penn University (1,660), Lindenwood University (1,659) and Midland University (1,657) in a tight competition for the Simpson Invite championship.
“We shot trap on Saturday, which is different from most shoots,” Owens said. “We came off trap with those scores (487/500), and it made me much happier this week. Then we came back and did it again in skeet. You could tell the team was much more joyful. We were much closer to our goals compared to last week. In sporting, we put up several decent scores, but we could have been several targets better. That’s something we’ll be practicing this week.”
After Concordia posted a trap score of 478 at the Fort Hays Intercollegiate Shoot (Sept. 7-8), the Bulldogs improved to 487 at the Simpson Invite with the help of a near perfect performance by McKenna. The rest of the team’s top five in trap included Brennen Stones and Mason Ward with a 98 apiece and Sam Blevins and Hannah Dean with a 96 each. As a team, the Bulldogs also totaled scores of 487/500 in skeet, 396/500 in sporting and 207/250 in super sporting. In skeet, Sam Blevins shot 99/100 while 97s were produced by Stones, Trevor Burch, Kaylee Hinton and Cael Washburn.
The La Grange, Ky., native Blevins paced Concordia from an HOA perspective by busting 315 targets. As a comparison, the top individual at the Simpson Invite, Lindenwood’s Matthew Lorio, shot 335. Blevins was followed in the Bulldogs’ top five HOA by Stones (314), Burch (310), Hinton (308), Breyer Meeks (305) and Buchannan Tietjen (305). The top HOA female shooter at the event was Lindenwood’s Grace Corselli with a 332.
Said Owens, “Sam shot a really good HOA score and Brennen did again this week. Just killed it. We had several people shoot much better. Overall, the weekend was much better than last weekend. I think our team was much more focused. It is very difficult to shoot 450 targets in two days (as the team did at the Fort Hays State Shoot). If you’re not used to that level of shooting, that can really wear you out. Part of it is getting used to the travel schedule and practicing as much as we are. It takes a little bit of an adjustment. I think we have that confidence back now in trap and skeet.”
There were 17 competitors that represented the Bulldogs at the Simpson Invite. The entire field included nearly 150 athletes from eight different institutions. The Simpson Invite team champion William Penn is coached by Concordia alum Colten Uitermarkt.
The Bulldogs will stay close to home this weekend as they look forward to the Midland Warrior Open this Saturday and Sunday. The event will be held at Lincoln Trap & Skeet in Lincoln, Neb. Concordia placed fifth at the 2023 Midland Open.