Shooting Sports

2023-24 Shooting Sports Schedule/Results

Place finishes: 3rd in Prairie Circuit Conference | 7th at ACUI National Championships (Division 2)

Date Event Location Result
Sept. 9-10 Fort Hays State University Fall Intercollegiate Shoot Hays, Kan. 3 of 12
Sept. 15-17 Mid-Plains Communtiy College Fall Flurry North Platte, Neb. 2 of 11
Sept. 23-24 Midland University Warrior Open Grand Island, Neb. 5 of 15
Sept. 29-Oct. 1 Prairie Circuit Conference Championships North Platte, Neb. 3 of 11
Oct. 7-8 Hastings College Bronco Invitational Grand Island, Neb. 3 of 11
Oct. 21-22 Concordia Bulldog Sporting Invitational Brainard, Neb. 2 of 9
Nov. 4-5 Waco Trap & Skeet Invitational Waco, Texas 3 of 7
March 9-10 Doane University Tiger Invitational Lincoln, Neb. 5 of 12
March 19-23 ACUI National Championships - Division 2 San Antonio, Texas 7 of 15
April 13-14 Concordia Bulldog International Tournament Grand Island, Neb. Results

2023-24 Shooting Sports Roster

Name Year Hometown Previous School
Ames Andelt Sr. Crete, Neb. Crete HS
Hayes Andelt Fr. Crete, Neb. Crete HS
Samuel Blevins Sr. La Grange, Ky. Oldham County HS
Jessica Ciezki Sr. Waterford, Wis. Waterford Union HS
Brycen Dumke Fr. Hubertus, Wis. Hartford Union HS
Andrew Fynaardt So. Oskaloosa, Iowa Pella Christian HS
Colby Gaines So. Tulsa, Okla. Immanuel Lutheran Christian HS
Devin Harris Jr. Kansas City, Mo. Hannibal-Lagrange University
Kaylee Hinton So. Hiawatha, Kan. Hiawatha HS
Claire Kee Sr. Gibbon, Neb. Gibbon Public Schools
Rayne Larrison Fr. Mio, Mich. Mio-Ausable HS
Jaggar Luetje Fr. Westside, Iowa Kuemper Catholic HS
Breyer Meeks Sr. Filer, Idaho Filer HS
Wayne Moore Sr. Surprise, Neb. David City HS
Jack Nelson Sr. Kimberly, Idaho Lighthouse Christian HS
Faith Ritchie Fr. Lakeland, Fla. McKeel Academy
Paige Roiger So. Fairmont, Minn. Martin Luther HS
Haley Schmutzer Jr. Waterford, Wis. Waterford Union HS
Brennen Stones Jr. Crete, Neb. Crete HS
Buchannan Tietjen Jr. Hebron, Neb. Thayer Central HS
Brayden Tosh Fr. Henry, Tenn. Henry County HS
Mason Ward So. Twin Falls, Idaho Filer HS
Cael Washburn Jr. Fort Collins, Colo. Liberty Common HS
Katelyn Welker So. Hamill, S.D. Colome HS

STAFF

Dylan Owens, Head Coach (2nd Year)

Season Preview: 2024-25 Concordia Shooting Sports

August 30

Head Coach: Dylan Owens (3rd season)
2024 Place Finishes: 3rd in Prairie Circuit Conference; 7th at ACUI National Championships – Division 2 (out of 15 teams).
Returning National Qualifiers: Hayes Andelt; Samuel Blevins; Devin Harris; Kaylee Hinton; Breyer Meeks; Brennen Stones; Buchannan Tietjen; Mason Ward; Katie Welker.
2024 National Titles: Jessie Ciezki (women’s open skeet); Claire Kee (women’s open super sporting).

Outlook

The 2023-24 campaign marked the 10th season of competition in the history of the Concordia University Shooting Sports program. The 2024-25 team arrived on campus with the start of classes on Aug. 26 ready to build upon last season, which wrapped up with a seventh-place finish (Division 2) at the ACUI Collegiate Clay Target National Championships in San Antonio, Texas. Among the highlights in 2023-24, seven individual school records were broken as the Bulldogs keep raising the bar in an effort to keep up with improving competition regionally and nationally.

Head Coach Dylan Owens continues to put his stamp on the program as he enters his third year leading the Bulldogs. The roster for 2024-25 includes nine of the 15 Concordia athletes who qualified for the 2024 national championships. In other words, the foundation is in place heading into the fall.

Said Owens, “We had some people who shot some of their best scores ever last year. We saw incremental improvement from a lot of people and set a bunch of new school records. As far as improvements this year, sporting clays is going to be our big focus. We’ve had morning meetings every day going over some of the targets we know we’re going to see. Each target setter is going to have different targets. Another thing we’re going to focus on is trap. We saw a little bit of a dip in that last year. We want to make sure we get that score back up to where it needs to be.”

As official competition gets underway early in September, Owens will be able to lean upon a class of six seniors, including fifth-year Bulldog Breyer Meeks, the team’s top HOA shooter at the 2024 national championships. The upperclassmen have not been afraid to discuss lofty expectations. It’s natural for a program that placed third at the 2023 NCSSAA National Championships. Two departed seniors, Jessie Ciezki and Claire Kee, came away from the 2024 national shoot with women’s open national titles. It won’t be easy to replace Kee, who owns Concordia women’s single season records for sporting clays, super sporting and high overall averages.

On the plus side, Meeks represents one of the headlining returners, along with program record breakers such as Devin Harris and Sam Blevins. Harris set a new single season standard in 2023-24 for doubles skeet average (98.0 percent) while Blevins did the same in Olympic trap average (84.8 percent). Blevins, Harris and Meeks were joined at the ’24 national championships by returners Hayes Andelt, Kaylee Hinton, Brennen Stones, Buchannan Tietjen, Mason Ward and Katie Welker.

A junior from Twin Falls, Idaho, Ward juggles life as a student-athlete with his service to the National Guard. Ward enjoyed his finest moment a year ago at the Midland Open when he shot a perfect trap score and took home the title in the event. He believes the pieces are in place for the Bulldogs to make a leap forward this season.

“I’m very excited about the people we have coming back this year,” Ward said. “Breyer Meeks is coming back again. He’s a very big part of the team. Katie, Devin and Sam are back again this year. We’re a very close-knit group of individuals. Coach Owens brings together a lot of like-minded people. I think the team chemistry is going to be really on point this year. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do.”

This team will expect more from itself once it enters competition at the national championships this coming spring. This past season, Concordia started slow in sporting clays on day one at nationals and never fully recovered, hence, the seventh-place finish. Owens is strategizing to ensure a different result in 2025. By discipline, Concordia posted 2024 team national placements of fifth in super sporting, sixth in doubles skeet, sixth in doubles trap, eighth in skeet, 10th in trap and 14th in sporting clays.

A junior from Hamill, S.D., Katie Welker appears poised for her best season yet. This summer, Welker competed at SCTP nationals and came away with the collegiate women’s handicap national championship. She also took third place in women’s bunker at the Junior Olympics.

Says Welker, “I definitely had numbers that I wasn’t satisfied with last year and I’ve been working hard over the summer to perfect my skill in each event. I’m really looking forward to this year. I think we’ve got another great team and another great group of freshmen coming in. We’re just looking to improve in all areas in each discipline and hopefully bring home the national championship.”

While the sport is individualized in many ways, the Bulldogs are intentional about building close bonds within the program. Owens says that upperclassmen have arranged team meals during the first week of classes and that everyone has quickly bought into the demands of preseason preparation. Because the season is so near, Concordia is not wasting any time getting started with practice at the home range of Oak Creek Sporting Club in Brainard.

“We have truly one of the most connected teams, I think, in the nation,” Owens said. “They do a lot of stuff together and are really growing together. A couple returners we have, Sam and Breyer, are going to put up good scores no matter what they’re doing. Breyer got a new gun over the summer and he got it fitted to him, and he’s loving it. He’s feeling really confident with that. Sam is as cool as he ever is. Put a gun in his hands and put him on the field and he’s going to shoot well.”

As a twist this season, the annual Concordia Bulldog Sporting Invitational has been moved from the fall to the spring semester. Owens sees many advantages in making this change. The event has been shifted away from fall break and will allow a breather this fall and will give the team an added spring competition to prepare for the national championships. This past year, the Bulldogs placed second at their own invite.

As the schedule stands, Concordia will compete in seven fall events and four spring shoots. The ACUI Collegiate Clay Target National Championships (March 16-22, 2025) will again take place in San Antonio. On the road to San Antonio, the Bulldogs will rub elbows frequently with rivals such as Fort Hays State University and Midland University. Concordia placed third behind those two teams at the 2023 Prairie Circuit Conference Championships.

For now, the Bulldogs are focused on the process that they believe will lead them to achieve greater heights than the program has previously experienced.

Says Ward in reflection, “I think the team did really well in San Antonio (last season). We identified some weak points, but there were also a lot of strong points for us. The team was a lot more consistent last year than we were my freshman year, which I’m really proud of. I know we have some really good freshmen coming in this year … The end goal is to win the national championship. That’s what I want to do and that’s what everyone on the team wants to do.”

Part of the process of preparing to compete at the highest level involves the mental side of the sport. Owens says the team is placing a premium on having the right thought process. As Owens explains, “We’ll talk about things like pre-shot planning. When you step in the box for sporting clays, what are you looking for? Where are the traps? How do you decide which target you shoot first?”

In the mind of Welker, the ability to simply have fun can make all the difference. Said Welker, “I think a successful season would be competing to the best of our abilities but also having fun. If you’re not having fun, then what’s the point of doing it? You have to be able to enjoy your time and not stress yourself the whole time you’re shooting.”

In his closing thoughts, Owens offered, “We really just want to get everyone on the same page. We have five wonderful freshmen. They’ve been shooting really well in practice. We have to get them used to the schedule and how we do things on the team. One of the big things for me to figure out is squadding and who shoots well together and how we can maximize our efficiency.”

The complete 2024-25 Concordia Shooting Sports schedule can be found HERE.

Stones leads Bulldogs in fifth-place finish at Fort Hays State Shoot

September 9

 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.

Concordia improves trap score, places fourth at Simpson Invite

September 16

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.

Bulldogs finish fourth at Midland Open while led by Blevins, Harris

September 23

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.

Blevins, Welker win doubles trap titles, Bulldogs take third at conference championships

September 30

In battling the likes of rivals Fort Hays State University and Midland University, the Concordia University Shooting Sports team landed in third place high overall (HOA) when the dust settled on the 2024 Prairie Circuit Conference Championships. Four Bulldogs earned individual conference awards while leading the way at Lincoln County Wildlife Gun Club in North Platte, Neb., for the three-day event (Sept. 27-29). Concordia busted 2,331 targets towards the HOA team leaderboard.

This marked the third straight season that Head Coach Dylan Owens’ squad has placed third in the conference. The two squads that placed in front of the Bulldogs were Fort Hays State (2,406) and Midland (2,403).

“The theme of the weekend is that every target counts,” Owens said. “Every little thing makes a huge difference when you’re looking at things from the widest scope possible. The event was a long one. You’re outside and you’re going the whole day. We shot skeet on Friday and came out with a 492 that tied our school record. We lost a team shoot-off for second place in skeet and that started off a weekend with a lot of close scores. We ended up taking third place HOA, which I’m happy with. Our weakness was sporting clays this weekend.”

As a change for the 2024 conference championships, each individual shot 500 targets (instead of 400) while being tested in the disciplines of trap, trap doubles, skeet, skeet doubles and sporting. In starring individual efforts, the four Bulldogs who emerged with awards were Sam Blevins as the men’s doubles trap champion, Katie Welker as the women’s doubles trap champion and women’s all-conference honoree and both Trevor Burch and Carter McKenna as all-conference freshmen. The La Grange, Ky., native Blevins also shot the team’s top overall score of 469, one target outside of a top 10 HOA finish.

Every team in the field had to navigate challenges that arose with the course throughout the weekend. Concordia did some of its best work in skeet while equaling the school record of 492 in that event. Both Breyer Meeks and Buchannan Tietjen shot 99s in skeet. As a team, the Bulldogs tied for second in skeet and placed third in trap doubles (460), third in doubles skeet (471), fourth in trap (480) and fourth in sporting (428). Officially, Concordia placed behind Midland in skeet after being beat out in the shoot-off.

In doubles trap, Blevins shot a 95 and held off four other competitors in a shoot-off to take the event title. On the women’s side, Welker shot a 94 in doubles trap and won the title outright. In that same event, Kaylee Hinton shot 92 and lost a shoot-off for second place. Also notable, Cael Washburn ran the first 50 in skeet before finishing with a 98. Mason Ward and Brennen Stones also shot 98 in skeet.

Burch (Louisburg, Kan.) and McKenna (Belle Fourche, S.D.) have made a significant impact as freshmen. McKenna tied for the fourth highest HOA score (452) on the team and was the No. 3 overall freshman at the Prairie Circuit Conference Championships. Meanwhile, Bruch shot 442 as the fifth best freshman competitor on the weekend.

Blevins (469) was followed in the team pecking order by Devin Harris (460), Meeks (458), McKenna (452) and Ward (452). There were 20 athletes that represented Concordia in North Platte, Neb., where seven teams made up the competition. For this year’s conference championships, only four-year schools and junior colleges were separated in the team scoring.

Said Owens, “All in all, I’m really happy. Having 14 people in the 90s in skeet is a great thing for our team. We had similar things in American trap. It was a good weekend. It was nice to see us come away with some individual awards. Trevor didn’t know he made all-conference freshman until I handed him the belt buckle.”

Special Awards – 2024 Prairie Circuit Conference Championships

·        Sam Blevins – Men’s Doubles Trap Champion

·        Trevor Burch – PCC All-Freshman Team

·        Carter McKenna – PCC All-Freshman Team

·        Katie Welker – Women’s Doubles Trap Champion; Women’s PCC All-Conference Team

Up next, the Bulldogs will compete at the Hastings College Bronco Invitational this Saturday and Sunday. Heartland Public Shooting Park in Grand Island, Neb., will serve as the venue for the invite. Concordia placed third at the 2023 Hastings Invite.

Bulldogs win Hastings Invite championship behind HOA titlists Hinton and Meeks

October 7

For the second time in four years, Concordia University, Nebraska Shooting Sports has claimed the Hastings Bronco Invitational championship. The Bulldogs won the 2024 Hastings Invite this past weekend (Oct. 5-6) while busting 1,773 targets towards the high overall (HOA) team leaderboard. Individually, Concordia’s Kaylee Hinton and Breyer Meeks claimed HOA championships within their respective gender breakdowns. The invite was held at Heartland Public Shooting Park in Grand Island, Neb.

The team title is the first for the program at an event since the 2021 Hastings Invite. Head Coach Dylan Owens came away especially pleased in light of the team’s best showing of the fall season to date.

“It was a lot of fun,” Owens said. “Heartland is a great facility, but it’s wide open and there’s always a lot of wind. Buck (Tietjen) and Devin (Harris) really did a great job starting us off with 98s in skeet. It was a really good display from our team. In super, we had really good, consistent scores from the team. We were in good position going into day two, which started with trap. It’s probably the hardest event to shoot at Heartland. Our team really fought hard and stayed in it on a tough, windy day. We were the only team in the 400s in sporting, so that really set us up to win HOA.”

The Bulldogs were followed in the HOA team standings by familiar foes in Iowa Western Community College (1,755), Hastings College (1,747), Midland University (1,690) and Fort Hays State University (1,676). In addition to claiming the overall team title, Concordia brought home first place trophies in skeet (483/500) and sporting clays (401/500). In the additional categories, the Bulldogs placed third in super sporting (430/500) and second in trap (459/500). Concordia was just one target behind Iowa Western in trap.

Atop the male HOA leaderboard, Meeks (Filer, Idaho) cracked 364 targets while fending off Hastings’ Tanner Dager (357). On the women’s side, Hinton (Hiawatha, Kan.) busted 334 targets in winning the championship by a margin of 10 targets. In addition, event championships were seized by Hinton in super sporting (81), Katie Welker in trap (97) and Meeks in sporting (85). Meanwhile, Tietjen and Harris placed second and third, respectively, in skeet (98 apiece) and Hinton placed second in trap (94).

In terms of sheer HOA totals, Concordia’s top five shooters at the Hastings Invite were Meeks (364), Tietjen (353), Harris (350), Trevor Burch (336), Hinton (334) and Brennen Stones (334). Of the 19 Bulldogs at the invite, 13 busted at least 300 targets. The top contributors to the team win in skeet were Tietjen (98), Harris (98), Meeks (97), Stones (95) and Cael Washburn (95). The top performers in sporting were Meeks (85), Tietjen (82), Harris (80), Sam Blevins (77) and Burch (77).

Said Owens, “I kept preaching this to the team – every target counts. I don’t like to tell them what the scores are looking like. They just need to go out and break as many targets as possible. Just keep fighting for every single target … We’re going to have a couple weeks of a break, which we really need. We’ve had five straight weekends of competitions. We’re really excited this weekend to work the Kids & Clays Tournament and help out Ronald McDonald House Charities.”

As Owens stated, Concordia will have a break in the action. Next up on the schedule will be the Southeast Community College Bobcat Invitational on Oct. 26-27. That invite will be held at Lincoln Trap & Skeet in Lincoln, Neb. There are two competitions remaining on the fall semester schedule.

Harris takes skeet championship, Bulldogs place second at SECC Invite

October 28

 In the final outing of the fall for Concordia University, Nebraska Shooting Sports, senior Devin Harris came away with a skeet championship and the Bulldogs placed second high overall (HOA) at the Southeast Community College Bobcat Invitational. The event took place at Lincoln Trap & Skeet in Lincoln, Neb., Oct. 26-27 and featured the disciplines of trap, skeet and sporting clays for a total of 300 targets per individual. For the purposes of team and individual awards, the 10 squads in competition were split up based on their status as either four- or two-year schools.

This marked the sixth event of the fall for Head Coach Dylan Owens’ squad. Concordia busted 1,390 targets towards the overall team leaderboard, second to only Midland University (1,443) among four-year schools.

“It was a smaller event, but I’m pretty satisfied with our scores,” Owens said. “I think our sporting can get better. There’s still a gap that we need to overcome. We had a long break on Saturday and I think that got to our athletes a little bit. That’s something we probably won’t face for the rest of the year. We have a couple shoots before nationals (next semester). The whole team’s mindset is much more on getting ready for that. A little bit of rest and recovery is going to be good for us.”

Mild temperatures and light winds greeted the field of competitors at Lincoln Trap & Skeet. As part of Saturday afternoon action, the Kansas City, Mo., native Harris shot 99/100 in skeet and then won a shoot-off in the process of bringing home the title. Other top individual scores by discipline were 99s by both sophomore Hayes Andelt and senior Brennen Stones in trap and an 87 from freshman Trevor Burch in sporting clays. From an HOA perspective, senior Buchannan Tietjen led the way with a score of 279/300, placing him seventh among four-year institution male competitors.

Tietjen shot 98 in trap, 96 in skeet and 85 in sporting. Tietjen was followed in the team’s HOA top five by Stones (275), Burch (274), freshman Carter McKenna (273), Harris (271) and junior Mason Ward (271). Junior Kaylee Hinton led all Concordia female competitors with a 254. There were a total of 21 Bulldogs who competed in the event. Seven shot 94 or better in trap and 11 cracked the 90s in skeet. Among the four-year schools, the Bulldogs placed second in all three categories: trap (490), sporting (417) and skeet (483).

As a team, Concordia defeated the likes of Fort Hays State University (Kan.), Oklahoma Panhandle State University, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Colorado State University. The champion among two-year institutions was Iowa Western Community College.

The next official event on the schedule will take place during the spring semester. Concordia will host the Concordia Bulldog Sporting Invitational on Feb. 28-March 1. The event will be staged at the program’s home range, Oak Creek Sporting Club in Brainard, Neb.