Aggies season finale from Heartland

By NCTA News

Five members of the Shotgun Sports Team from the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture competed over the weekend at Heartland Shooting Park west of Grand Island.

Aggie competitors were Cooper Mazza of Potter, Trey Barnhart of McCook, Kamren Sitzman of McCook, Kaden

Bryant of Firth, and Emily Miller of Norton, Kansas.

Coach Alan Taylor said overall, the team shot well in skeet and sporting clays. The final match of the fall season was Saturday and Sunday in the ACUI Upper Mid-West Championship.

Kaden Bryant of Firth led the Aggie team with 254 of 300 points and placed 10^th in the combined score of American events – American Skeet and American Trap, plus Sporting Clays.

Overall, among 103 men contestants in Division 1, Bryant was second place in skeet after breaking 98 of 100 clays in a shoot-off, 81 of 100 in trap, and 75 of 100 in sporting clays.

Emily Miller of Norton, Kansas, was third place in the Women’s American combined events of trap, skeet, and sporting clay with 237 points. She led the Aggie team with 82 in trap.

From American Combined point totals from the five athletes, the Aggies were 7^th place team of 16 colleges and universities in that division.

They end the fall season and will resume practices in early February, Taylor said. Then, they are slated to compete in four collegiate matches and return to ACUI Nationals in San Antonio, Texas March 29-April 2.

The ACUI Clay Targets Program is the oldest collegiate competition for shotgun sports athletes. Previously known as the Association of College Unions International, it combines academics and student activities.

NCTA Shotgun Sports members will be among campus clubs and competition teams available for prospective students to meet at the NCTA Discovery Day on Monday, Nov. 15. The open house and tours are free to attend, and open to the public. For details, see https://ncta.unl.edu/discovery-days.

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.