World Cup team member. Olympic qualifier. Those are the types of aspirations held by Erin Lokke, a now Concordia University alum. Those achievements may have once seemed far-fetched for the shooting sports standout and Saint Francis, Minn., native, who concluded her collegiate career in late March by claiming a national championship in the category of combined international open events (international skeet and international trap).

Four years as a Bulldog are in the books for the most acclaimed competitor to date for a Concordia shooting sports program that got started in 2014-15 (first official varsity season in 2018-19).

“When I first got there, I didn’t know where shooting was going to take me,” Lokke said in a phone interview on Tuesday (June 25). “It’s definitely kept me fighting for something. I’ve had a blast doing it. There’s really nothing I would ever change except for more practice and getting better faster. God blessed me with something I just could never change. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

Lokke realized one of her goals within competitive shooting when she earned an invite to the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Shotgun event held in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, the largest inland city in the Emirates. The trip was self-funded by Lokke, who visited this location this past April 8-16. The journey made for a challenge with final exams and graduation looming in the near future, but it was one she believed she could not pass up.

As a representative of the United States, Lokke acquitted herself well while competing in international skeet. The competition included five rounds of 25 targets each. Lokke managed to crack 105 (out of a possible 125) targets and met the Minimum Qualification Score (MQS) for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games (and potentially for additional international events). The minimum score for women competing in skeet is 92.

“We traveled a whole bunch,” Lokke said. “We rode camels, we went sand-boarding and sand-duning, all that kind of fun stuff. It was tricky (coming back home for finals), but I would never trade that experience for the world. I needed to get my MQS.”

Along her journeys, Lokke has often competed alongside some of the world’s highest rated shooters like Americans Kimberly Rhode and Caitlin Connor, both of whom also made the trip to Al Ain.

The next big competition for Lokke took place the week of June 17 when the USA Shooting Shotgun National Championships were held in Colorado Springs, Colo. Lokke was joined by current Bulldog shooters in Sarah Schwacher, Damien Stewart and Emma Van Donselaar in Colorado Springs. Lokke posted a score of 221/250 in skeet and placed eighth among the 20 women in that particular category. Van Donselaar finished fourth in the Junior Nationals Open Skeet.

As the headquarters of USA Shooting, Colorado Springs is a familiar destination for some of the nation’s top shooters such as Lokke. She hopes her sport will continue to take her to many other places. As of right now, the future is not entirely certain for Lokke.

“The World Cup was always a dream of mine and I finally accomplished that,” Lokke said. “Now I want to go to a World Cup and actually be on a team rather than just run MQ events. That’s the closest and most powerful step I can get to right now. Eventually, hopefully I’ll get to the Olympics down the line, but time will tell. World Cups are so cool because so many of the top women and men from every country are there.”

Lokke emphasizes that many people have helped her along the way. She has worked with a coach in her hometown for six years, as well as coaches Scott Moniot and Joel Helmer at Concordia. Her family, including her parents and four siblings, is also a big factor. Said Lokke, “They support me in everything I do and a lot of them have traveled with me. I’m very blessed to have them in my life.”

There’s more to come in Lokke’s story. This is simply the latest chapter.