Aggies to host Prairie Circuit Meet

By NCTA News

College athletes from nine states will compete this weekend in the Prairie Circuit Conference contests for shotgun sports in skeet, sporting clays and trap.

More than 200 contestants from 14 colleges are registered, said Alan Taylor of Curtis, coach of the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture Shotgun Sports Team.

For the third year, the NCTA Aggies will host competitions over the course of Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Lincoln County Wildlife Gun Club near Lake Maloney south of North Platte.

Taylor said the Prairie Circuit Conference includes colleges from Nebraska, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and Wyoming.

“Other than nationals and an ACUI meet near Grand Island, this will be one of the largest competitions we have all year,” said Taylor.

The Association of College Unions International (ACUI) clay targets program, the oldest collegiate shotgun sporting event, was started in 1968. ACUI sponsors national finals each spring in Texas.

Taylor started the Aggie program in Curtis while he was an adjunct professor in animal science. A year ago, he left private industry to become a fulltime assistant professor, NCTA Experiential Learning Coordinator and continues coaching duties.

This year, the Aggies have 20 members who joined the club, some for sport and some for collegiate competition. He plans on having 10 competing at North Platte, while others assist in conducting the contests.

Since events are running simultaneously, participating colleges help the Aggies by pitching in with the workload.

“Every school gets assigned a field and it’s their responsibility to take care of that field,” Taylor said. “Everybody kind of pitches in and helps out.”

Nebraska colleges which frequently compete include Concordia University, Doane College, Midland University, Hastings College, Wayne State College, and soon MidPlains Community College will have a team.

“Since we are there in North Platte, I’ll ask Mid-Plains if some of their students can help over the three days,” Taylor said. “That gives them experience in seeing how the meet runs.”

Weekend results from Midland contest

Taylor took four Aggies to the Midland University meet over the weekend, their season opener at a range in Lincoln. They were Kaden Bryant, Firth; Trey Barnhart, McCook; Cooper Mazza, Potter; and Emily Miller of Norton, Kansas.

“Everybody did well. I am pleased with how they all shot,” Taylor said.  “We had personal bests by all four in skeet, and also in sporting clays.”

High score for the Aggies came from Kaden Bryant, who also serves as team secretary and photographer.

Following the Sept. 23-25 Prairie Circuit Conference, the NCTA Aggies will travel to Oak Creek Sporting Clays at Brainard where Concordia hosts the meet.

Part of the University of Nebraska system, the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture is a two-year institution with a statewide mission of preparing students for successful careers in agriculture, veterinary technology and related industries. NCTA is known for its affordable tuition, high job-placement rate for its graduates, and for the success of student teams in competitive activities including crops judging, ranch horse events, livestock judging, shotgun sports, stock dog trials, and intercollegiate rodeo. The college is consistently ranked as one of the best two-year schools in the nation.