HAYS, Kan. – The 2024-25 Concordia University Shooting Sports season got underway at the Fort Hays State University Shoot over the weekend (Sept. 7-8). In terms of high overall scoring, the Bulldogs placed fifth out of the 12 teams that convened upon LaSada Lodge in Russell, Kan., for day one and then Hays City Sportsmen’s Club in Hays, Kan., for day two. More than 175 athletes were tested in the disciplines of sporting, super sporting, trap, trap doubles and skeet doubles. Senior Brennen Stones emerged as Concordia’s top overall shooter with 396 targets busted out of a possible 450.
This was the beginning of Head Coach Dylan Owens’ third season leading the Bulldogs. In the season opener, Concordia found itself rubbing elbows with familiar rivals such as Midland, host Fort Hays State and Hastings.
“I have to give Brennan a shoutout. He’s one of our most consistent competitors,” Owens said. “He’s going to show up and give us good scores in every event. It doesn’t matter what the conditions are or what’s going on. It’s nice to have someone like that who is a foundational person and is really consistent.
“Normally for us, our trap and skeet scores are going to be really good. We shot 15 targets lower than our average in trap, so it was a tough start. Conditions were pretty good other than a little wind on Saturday. The big takeaway is that we need to spend a lot more time getting ready for big shoots like this. Most of our shoots are 300 or maybe 400 targets. This one was 450 over two days.”
Competitors at the Fort Hays State Shoot were tasked with walking long distances across a spread-out course. When the dust settled, the Bulldogs posted an HOA total of 1,952, placing them behind Midland, Fort Hays State, Hastings and Iowa Western Community College. Following Stones (28th overall), Concordia’s top five HOA included Sam Blevins (395), Devin Harris (390), Buchannan Tietjen (387) and Breyer Meeks (384).
By event, the Bulldogs placed tied for second in skeet doubles (232), third in super sporting (401), fourth in sporting (443), fifth in trap doubles (444) and sixth in trap (478). Individually, Concordia’s top performers by category were Blevins, Harris and Rayne Larrison (83 apiece) in super sporting, Stones in sporting (92), Hayes Andelt in doubles trap (91), Katie Welker in trap (97) and Meeks, Stones and Tietjen in skeet doubles (47 apiece). Welker turned in the fourth highest trap total among females at the Fort Hays State Shoot.
A total of 18 Bulldogs competed at the event. The team’s six through 10 finishers HOA were Welker (380), Carter McKenna (379), Andelt (373), Kaylee Hinton (362) and Trevor Burch (361). Burch and McKenna were two of the five freshmen who experienced a collegiate shoot for the first time.
Said Owens, “We need to get some practice in getting through those longer courses. All in all, skeet went pretty well. We did miss a few targets that we would have liked to have back. A couple freshmen showed some good stuff. They are taking to the process and the mentality of making sure we’re getting our feet set and our hole points are right. We’re becoming more process-oriented.”
Next up, Concordia will head to Waukee, Iowa, for the Simpson College Invite this Saturday and Sunday. The venue for the competition will be New Pioneer Gun Club, where action is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. CT both days.