Photo courtesy of Lakeview Trap team Members of the Lakeview Trap team pose for a photo after competing in the National Championship meet on July 8-10. From (L to R): Jared Louwagie (alt), Trey Helmke, Josh Kompelien, McKenzy Grunewald, Faith Louwagie, Austin Gunlogson and Chloe Louwagie (alt).

COTTONWOOD — On July 6, seven students (five shooters and two alternates) as well as five coaches and their families from the Lakeview Trap team drove 12 hours to Mason, Michigan to compete in the end of the season National Championship.

Competing in the team event from Lakeview would be seniors Trey Helmke, McKenzy Grunewald and Faith Louwagie and underclassmen Josh Kompelien and Austin Gunlogson. Chloe and Jared Louwagie would serve as the teams’ back-up or “alternate” shooters.

The National Championship is comprised of 232 teams and over 1800 individual shooters from every corner of the country. It consists of shooting in a qualifier round (which took place on July 8) in order to advance to the final competition that took place on July 10. In the team qualifier, the top 80 teams advance to the finals (July 10). Lakeview would finish the team qualifier in 23rd place out of 232, advancing them to the finals.

In the qualifier Trey Helmke and McKenzy Grunewald would end the day both posting 99 out of a possible 100. Josh Kompelien would shoot a 96, Faith Louwagie had a 92 and Austin Gunlogson had a 91, giving the team a final qualifying score of 477 out of a possible 500. The best score for all of the teams that day was Calhoun High School from Illinois posting a 490.   

On the final day of competition Lakeview would continue to gain confidence and improve their shooting. After shooting their first round (of four) and only dropping eight targets out of a possible 125 between the five shooters, the Lakeview trap team had found their groove and their next round would not only be full of “firsts” but it was perfect. Faith Louwagie had yet to hit a 25 straight. 24’s were not uncommon to Faith but her first 25 could not have come at a better time. In the second round of the finals not only would Faith get her 25 straight but Lakeview would shoot their first “perfect” round in the history of the team, with all five shooters posting 25 straight all at the same time.

In talking with some of the league’s organizers, a perfect round is seen “very rarely, especially at Nationals”.

At the end of the final day, the team would end up posting a score of 483 out of 500. Trey Helmke would end the day posting a perfect 100 straight, combined with his score of 99 for the qualifier he only dropped one target in the competition. McKenzy Grunewald and Josh Kompelien would both shoot 97’s in the final giving McKenzy a 196 out of 200 and Josh a 193. Faith would post her final day with a 93 for a 185 total and Austin ended his rounds with a 96 for a total of 187.

With both, qualifying and final competition scores added together Lakeview would finish the event with a total score of 960 out of a possible 1000 landing them in 12th place in the nation. The team that would end up winning first was Calhoun High School from Illinois post a final score of 977, only 17 targets ahead of Lakeview.

— Content courtesy of Lakeview Trap team