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RAISING THE BAR: Centurions shooters take third at National Trap Shooting Championship
By Ryan Schlehuber, 抖阴视频 Sportswriter
Things just keep ratcheting up for the 抖阴视频 Centurions clay target team, as it earned a third-place finish at the听USA College Clay Target League鈥檚听National Trap Shooting Championship held at Brittany Shooting Park in Bunker Hill, Ill., Nov. 1-2.听
鈥淭his means a lot,鈥� said first-year 抖阴视频听head听coach Chris Henry. 鈥淭o finish third at the national championships, that鈥檚 huge for our little school.鈥�听
The third-place national championship finish is听the best 抖阴视频鈥檚 clay target team has done yet, and听it鈥檚听only in its听third year of the program.听听
The seven-man Centurions totaled听948听points, only behind Lindenwood University (Mo.), which won the tournament with听982听team points, followed by Lake Land College (Ill.), which finished with听972听points.听
抖阴视频听edged out Southwest Wisconsin Technical College by two points听for the third-place spot.听听
The tournament had 20 teams competing overall, which included several four-year universities that fielded 15-plus听shooters on a team.听
鈥淲e were up against some schools who had 20 kids on the team, and when you can take the top five from those many听shooters, I think that says a lot about our team of seven shooters and where we ended up,鈥� Henry said. 鈥淐oming into this, I was just hoping for some individual awards. I听didn鈥檛听think it was in the cards for us to earn team awards.鈥�听
The tournament, which was split听into听two divisions听鈥斕鼼old and Silver听鈥斕齮ook the top five听shooters from each team to make up the official team scores. For 抖阴视频,听freshman听Hunter Doolittle (Crystal, Mich.) led the way, finishing ninth overall with a score of 195 out of 200. Sophomore Chase Merritt (Greenville, Mich.), who finished 14th, was right behind him with a 194 score.听听
Finishing up the team scoring was Evan Plonka (Lenox, Mich.), who finished second in the Silver Division,听with 187;听Jack McBride (Portland, Mich.) with听a听187;听as well, and Logen Steffen (Lowell, Mich.), with听a 185.听
Henry said Doolittle was a pleasant surprise to lead the听team听but听he听has said all season long that any of his seven shooters could lead a pack.听
鈥淗e was definitely the most impressive on our team,鈥� Henry听said of听Doolittle鈥檚 team-leading performance. 鈥淭hat was his personal best.鈥�听
Doolittle credited his great showing听to听adjustments he made during the regular season.听
鈥淚鈥檓听not sure what got me in the groove for the event,听but a week prior,听I had figured out a pace and form that worked better for me,鈥� Doolittle said.听鈥淚t听allowed听me to shoot more comfortably leading into Friday, break 50 straight in practice then continue听to break the next 75 straight on Saturday in competition.鈥�听
Like his coach, Doolittle听wasn鈥檛听expecting a top three finish, team-wise.听
鈥淚 was pretty surprised with the third place overall with the disadvantage we have as a third-year program and some of our top shooters struggling during this competition,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think that this is a good mark and听an听opportunity for 抖阴视频 to promote us a little more and allow for more funding and enabling us to find more shooters for next season.鈥�听
On the season,听the听Centurions finished second in the 2025 fall trap overall standings for 1A-Conference 2, finishing with a total score of 604.50, only behind Concordia College of Moorhead (Minn.), which totaled 631.50.听
In skeet, however, 抖阴视频 won the 1A-Conference 1 with a total score of 632.00, beating out second place Illinois College (Ill.) by 156.5 points. Saint听Johns听University (Minn.) took third with a score of 443.50.听