The Becker High School Trap Shooting Team recently completed a solid season, finishing in fifth place out of eight teams in Class 4A, Conference 5.

“Weather was once again a factor at the start of the season with snow, ice and flooding delaying the start by a week, but after that it wasn’t bad,” Coach Chris Keeler said.

Keeler reported that many of the student-athletes on the team had their personal best scores and many shooters also shot a perfect round of 25.

“This earns them a patch from the USA Clay Target League and also the highly coveted Coach Keeler Clay Buster Parfait (a DQ gift card),” Keeler said.

Team leaders in scoring for the season were Devon Hanzlik with a 22.7 average, Max Keeler at 22.4 and Ben Schwartz with a 22.2.  

Breann Schrader was the team’s top female shooter, averaging 11.6 broken targets per round.

Alexandria, MN was once again the host of the championship shoot this year for the league, with Class 4A competing on Thursday, June 15.  Nearly 1,000 athletes and 37 teams were competing in this class, and Becker came in a respectable 11th as a team.

“We were also second in the Mid-Sota League, which represents a number of teams from Central Minnesota and is hosted by Bryan Brophy of Shamrock Leathers and Del-Tone Shooting Range,” Keeler said.  

The sport of trapshooting itself is experiencing massive growth, both in Minnesota and the nation.

What started in 2008 as the Minnesota State High School Clay Target League with three teams and 30 shooters has now grown into 343 high school teams that are assigned to 45 conferences across nine classes, based on team size. Nationwide, the sport boasts nearly 45,000 participants in 34 states. In Becker, the sport continues to have a strong following.

“We had the largest team we have had in a few years at 38 athletes, and the future looks strong with only seven seniors graduating this year,” Keeler said.  “We wish our seniors the best in the future and are looking forward to next season.”