Becker’s newest sports team — the Becker Bulldog high school trap shooting team — competed in their first events of the year the last three weeks and did well enough to capture and retain the first place lead in the standings.
Third Week
Michael Sakry continues to lead the Becker Bulldog trap team, averaging 22.67 points, good enough for second place overall in the standings.
Zach Gedicke of Medford HS leads all competitors with a 23.17 average.
Besides Sakry, the Bulldogs have six other shooters in the top 25 male competitors (Ethan Quill, Ethan Grimlie, Sam Somrock, Tanner Hammer, Blake Sandeen and Evan Schmidt).
Becker’s Samantha May and Claire Voigt are in fourth place among the women with a 17 point average. Medford’s Josie Mortensen leads all athletes with a 21.83 average score.
Becker has a total of five girl shooters in the top 25 including May, Claire Voigt, Mikayla Fitzpatrick, Karen Schroeder and Heidi Voigt.
Class AA Team Results:
1). Becker 2,599; 2). Medford 2,534; 3). Perham 2,270.5; 4). Cleveland 2,030; 5). Proctor 2,001; 6). Champlin Park 1,936; 7). Henry Sibley 1,818; 8). Cannon Falls 1,477.5; 9). Robbinsdale 1,289.
Second Week
Michael Sakry led the Bulldog trap team for the second week in a row and is now one of the top 100 overall shooters in the state. The Bulldogs scored a team-high 3,053 points to push their lead in the Class AA Conference 2 standings to over 500 points.
The Bulldogs also have several shooters from the team in the top 25 of the conference including Ethan Quill, Sam Somrock, Ethan Grimlie, Evan Schmidt, Tanner Hammer, Blake Sandeen and Nathan Voigt.
Sakry’s season average of 23.25 is second only to Medford’s Zach Gedicke (23.5).
The top female Bulldog shooters were Samantha May (17.5 season average), Claire Voigt (17.5), Mikayla Fitzpatrick (16), Karen Schroeder (15.5) and Heidi Voigt (11).
Class AA Team Results
1). Becker - 3,053; 2). Proctor - 2,743; 3). Medford - 2,704.5; 4). West St. Paul - 1,968.5; 5). Perham - 1,861; 6). Cleveland - 1.595.5; 7). Cannon Falls - 1.433; 8). Champlin-Park - 1.333.5; 9). Armstrong - 1,263.
First Week
Sakry shot a perfect 25 out of 25 in his second round of shooting to lead the Bulldogs to the win. He was 22 of 25 in the first round and achieved a two round point total of 186.5.
Rounding out the scoring for the Bulldogs were Schmidt (41 points in two rounds) for a score of 175, Matthew Stone (41) also scored a 175 and Grimlie (40), Quill (40) and Somrock (40) all tied with 167.5 points.
The team concluded the event with a team total of 2,796 points for first place. Medford finished second with 2,595.5 points.
Class AA Team Results
1). Becker - 2,796; 2). Medford - 2,595.5; 3). Perham - 2,557; 4). Proctor - 2,291.5; 5). Champlin Park - 2,121.5; 6). Cannon Falls - 1.636; 7). Robbinsdale - 1.540; 8). Henry-Sibley - 1.335.5; 9). Cleveland - 1,082.
The growth in the participation numbers for high school trap shooting in Minnesota has been admirable over the past four years.
It began when Jim Sable started a high school trap shooting team with 10 students in Hopkins in 2001. It expanded the following year to include teams from Minnetonka and Excelsior. Growth was slow, but did increase to 29 teams across the state in 2011. It then exploded in popularity in the next few years as the team total grew to 59 schools in 2012 to 114 teams in 2013 and then 185 programs with more than 6,100 total students this spring.
Each team around the state has five weeks of competition at their home ranges. Averages for each student from those weeks determine the ranking for a championship in Alexandria for the five classes June 6-10. This spring, the Minnesota State High School League added a sanctioned state tournament on June 14 in Prior Lake for top shooters advancing from the Alexandria meet.
(In photo Front Row: Zach Anderson, Jon Schwartz, Graham Loven, Claire Voigt, Heidi Voigt, Sami May, Karen Schroeder, Mikayla Fitzpatrick, Evan Schmidt, Joshua Christensen, Dan Toffelson, Sam Somrock. Middle Row: Jacob Stellmach, Matt Stone, Tanner Hammer, Jacob Gorecki, Mike Sakry, Nathan Voigt, Devan Maruska, Ethan Quill, Adam Stellmach, Armus Yuhala, Coach Olson, Coach Schroeder. Back Row: Coach/Team Manger Cary Rauch, Coach Toffelson, Brook Zoller, Ethan Grimlie, Brett Barsody, Kyle Schroeder, Blake Sandeen, Coach Voigt, Coach Chris Keeler.)
