Scholastic Trap Team Attends National Shoot

Members of Colfax Scholastic Trap Team traveled to Marengo, Ohio to take part in the Scholastic Clay Target Program’s (SCTP) National Shoot. There they joined thousands of other athletes.

Making the trip to Cardinal Shooting Center were Beau Zelm, Lane Unruh, Nathaniel Nosker, Rob Unruh, assistant coach, and Jim Nosker, head coach.

All three of the Colfax athletes recorded personal bests during their two days of competition, according to Nosker. That included Zelm breaking his first 25 straight at a major tournament.

National is like a huge shooting fair, with throngs of people streaming along vendors row, Nosker said. Shotgun shooters can immerse themselves in their sport of choice. Colfax athletes always enjoy the experience, he added.

Cardinal Shooting Center’s trap line is a mile long and has 52 trap houses. Half of the line is backed by three permanent vendor buildings and dozens of vendors tents and trailers. Numerous shotgun manufacturers are represented, with list prices ranging from $380 pumps to $15,000 or better over and unders. Custom gunsmiths have portable shops setup and

virtually every trap shooting accessory imaginable is available, he said.

SCTP is the feeder program for the U.S. Olympic team. It encompasses all standard clay target games, including trap, skeet and sporting clays.

There were 3,150 SCTP athletes at the event, shooting in 9,100 events. That means most athletes competed in more than one clay target event, such as American 16 Yard Trap and Handicap Trap, or perhaps International Trap.

Colfax’ team stayed with 16-Yard American Trap. That means the athlete stands 16 yards behind the trap house. Handicap Trap is shot at further yardages, all the way back to 27 yard behind the trap house.

International Trap, or Bunker Trap, has a row of five trap machines, any one of which might throw the target. Plus, the angles are more severe and the target speed is faster.

To handle the large number of skeet shooters attending, Cardinal Center has 20 skeet fields, while sporting clays shooters are accommodated on two different sporting clays courses. Each sporting clays course features 16 different shooting cabanas.

Approximately 2 million clay targets were thrown, requiring 12 semi-trailers to haul the birds in. To break that many targets in the air, or attempt to break them, required launching 70 tons of lead shot, 1-1/8th ounce at a time.