The Britton-Hecla Area Trapshooting Team will be among 456 high schools from across the nation scheduled to participate at the 2024 USA High School Clay Target League National Championship this week in Mason, MI.
Competing for Britton-Hecla will be Dylan Harmon, Isaak Jesz, Camden Dinger, Hunter Jensen, and Bridger Patterson. Shooters had to average at least 20.5 on 25 targets during the season to be able to shoot at the national meet.
Other qualifying South Dakota schools include Ethan, Great Plains Lutheran, Groton Area, Iroquois-Lake Preston, Milbank, Mitchell, Pierre, Platte-Geddes, and Sioux Valley.
The USAHSCTL National Championship will be held at the Michigan Trapshooting Association July 10-14. The Championship features 3,000 athletes participating in team and individual qualifying events, culminating in a final Championship Round to award the top 10 male and female athletes and top five teams in the country.
Interested fan s can follow the USAHSCTL National Championship Facebook page for daily photos and videos at https://www.facebook.com/U SAHSCTLNationalChampion ship/ Wednesday and Thursday will be check-in and practice days. Friday is the Team Championship Qualifier with the top 80 of 260 teams qualifying to compete in Sunday’s Team Championship Round. Saturday will be the Individual Championship Qualifier with the top 400 of 1,800 athletes moving on to compete in Sunday’s Individual Championship Round.
A total of 37,158 student athletes representing 1,795 high school teams across the country participated in USA Clay Target League programs this spring. Only the top athletes and teams qualified to register for the National Championship, based on season averages at the completion of the spring season.
With nearly 52,000 participating athletes in the 202324 school year, the non-profit USA Clay Target League is America’s largest clay target shooting organization. The League offers trap, skeet, sporting clays, and 5-stand leagues to secondary and postsecondary schools across the country.
The League is the only 100% school-approved clay target shooting sport program in America. Every team must have school approval to participate. Most participating schools have lettering programs as well as yearbook inclusion for the teams. In addition, tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships are provided to qualifying seniors by the League and postsecondary institutions each year.
The League’s co-ed and adaptive nature are key attractions to schools nationwide: it’s fully Title IX compliant with both male and female athletes competing on the same team, and it’s an ‘adaptive’ sport, which allows students with physical disabilities to take part.
Priorities for the league are safety, fun, and marksmanship – in that order. The League is the safest sport in school, with not one reported injury since its inception in 2001. Each athlete must complete firearm safety certification before participation.
