The Spring Grove trap-shooting team finished fifth among 67 Class 1A varsity teams at the Minnesota Clay Target Association championships at Alexandria on June 14. With a team score of 463, the Lions were only eight birds behind champion Groves Academy (St. Louis Park). The top five individual scores were used to tabulate the team score. Garrison Van Minsel was the team’s top gun, connecting with 94 flying clay targets (out of 100). Xander Lewis and Tristan Hammel each hit 93 birds while Ashlyn Hammel scored 92. Camron Kraus and Carson Gerard each blew apart 91 clays.
Submitted photo
Ashlyn Hammel had the third best score among the 22 Class 1A varsity girls with Taylor Reinhardt eighth (90) and Marah Mathison ninth (87). Among 219 varsity boys, Van Minsel tied with the 20th-highest total while Lewis and Tristan Hammel tied for 36th.
Spring Grove took 14 student shooters to the competition, including Garrett Waldenberger 89, Jakob Myrah 84, Christian Bjerke 84, Carter Van Minsel 80, Isaac Vick and Travis Fisch.
The event lasts nine days, one day for each class, until Class 9A schools complete their competition. The top 40 teams among all nine classes will advance to the Minnesota State High School League Championship Tournament. Ashlyn Hammel has already qualified for the MSHSL championship event as an individual after finishing among the state’s top 100 shooters during the conference season, which also earned her All-State credentials.
There was no state competition in 2020 due to the pandemic. Spring Grove won state championships the three previous seasons – Class 1A state titles in 2019 and 2017, sandwiched around a Class 2A crown in 2018.
The recently-completed 2021 spring conference championship was the Lions’ fifth league title in the last six seasons. There is both an autumn and spring clay target season, but state competition is only held during the spring.