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Spring Grove senior Taylor Reinhardt is the 2024 Girls State Trap champion after hitting 99 of 100 flying clay targets at the state champion-ships in Prior Lake, conducted by the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL). The three-time All-State Lion shooter, competing in the rain, edged out three girls who scored 98. Last year, in the first year for a separate division for girls, Reinhardt had tied with the second-best score of 98, but after the tie-breaker, brought home the fourth-place medal. This year, she qualified again by being one of the top 25 girls in the state, based on their five-week, regular-season average.
Among 90 All-State boys, two-time All-State sophomore Shawn Swenson of Mabel-Canton tied for third place, also with a nearly perfect 99. Cougar teammate, senior Riley Snell and Lanesboro junior Holdyn Willford tied for 19th after hitting 97 birds. Chatfield eighth grader Max Finley connected with 95 targets to tie for 37th.
Houston seventh grader Justin Riederer hit 94 birds (tie 55th). Scoring 93 was Mabel-Canton junior and three-time All-State Saijal Slafter, placing her tied for 11th among 23 girls. Cougar teammate, senior Colton Tollefsrud, also came in at 93 (tied 62nd boys). Eighth grader Logan Drees of LeRoy-Ostrander hit 92 airborne targets (tie 66th). Fewer than 1% of all Minnesota high school shooters qualified to compete, including these nine standouts from Journal-area schools.
Reinhardt went in with confidence, telling herself, “I’ve done this a million times before, and I can do it again. There was no reason to be worried.” But she did it this time having to adjust for the inclement weather. “I don’t like to wear a hat,” she noted. But with the rain, a hat was necessary to keep her glasses dry. There was no lightning, so competition continued despite the rain, which was falling when Reinhardt was firing her first 75 shots (a perfect 75 out of 75). She hit another 10 flying targets before missing her 86th bird. Having been a Spring Grove team member since the sixth grade, Reinhardt will continue to compete next year on the collegiate level while attending Northeast Iowa Community College in Calmar, Iowa.
Previously in class-by-class team competition at Alexandria, the Spring Grove trap team was the Class 2A state runner-up among 54 teams at state. Mabel-Canton finished fourth among the 38 teams in Class 4A. The Cougars edged the Lions in team scores, 466 to 464, determined by combining each team’s top five individual scores. Chatfield followed at 456 with LeRoy-Ostrander at 454 and Houston 453 and Grand Meadow 452. Chatfield freshman Zach Whalen led all area shooters at Alexandria, blasting 98 of 100 clay targets out of the air. But for the first time in several years, none of the 11 Journal-covered teams scored well enough to qualify for the subsequent Minnesota State High School Association (MSHSL) State Championships at Prior Lake.
The Minnesota State High School Clay Target League (MNSHSCTL) organized 348 Minnesota high school trap teams into nine classes (1A through 9A) based not on school enrollment but on the number of registered shooters. Each class is divided into conferences for the five-week regular season.
The postseason permits every team to compete for a state championship against all other teams in its class at the annual MNSHSCTL State Trap Shooting Tournament at Alexandria, which with over 8,500 athletes, claims to be the largest clay target shooting event in the world. It consumes nine days, one for each class. The Alexandria event also qualifies teams for the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) state championship at Prior Lake, the only trap event sponsored by that organization. The 40 top-scoring teams at Alexandria, regardless of class, advance to Prior Lake.
In addition to the team competition at Prior Lake, there is also an individual competition for the All-State shooters – the top 100 individuals (boys or girls) plus the top 25 girls. Individuals qualify with their average during the five-week regular-season conference races.
Class-by-Class State at Alexandria
In Class 1A state at Alexandria, LeRoy-Ostrander (454) was 6th and Houston (453) 8th along with Caledonia (438) 23rd among 125 teams. Houston’s Justin Riederer hit 94 out of 100 birds to tie for 18th among 393 shooters. Hurricane teammates Elliot Frauenkron and Ethan Frauenkron each scored 92 (tied for 42nd).
For L-O, Kim Volkart (93) was 30th overall, but tied for third among 43 girls. Brendon Orndorfer fired a 91 followed closely by three Cardinals tied with 90 – Malyk Schaefer, Brayden Schaefer and Talan Lewison. Caledonia was led by Devon Schulte who hit 91 clays (tied 58th out of 393).
In Class 2A, Spring Grove (464) placed second, Kingsland (444) 12th and Lanesboro (439) 18th among 54 Class 2A teams. Tristen Aarsvold of Kingsland and Tyler Turner of Spring Grove each hit 95 of 100 flying clay targets, tied for sixth among 449 individuals. Trayton McCabe of Lanesboro, Christian Bjerke of Spring Grove and Isaac Vick of Spring Grove each hit 93 birds to tie for 22nd. Taylor Reinhardt of Spring Grove scored 92 with Lion Caleb Eiken and Laneboro’s Holdyn Willford each hitting 91 targets. Kellan Slifka of Kingsland scored 90 to finish among the top 17% of the field.
In Class 3A, Grand Meadow (452) ranked 19th among 40 teams. Parker Armagost hit 96 birds, the top score among all 277 junior varsity shooters. Hunter Shane came in at 93, tied for 56th among 452 varsity competitors, followed by Aaron Mork at 91 and Rowan Sween at 90.
In Class 4A, Mabel-Canton (465) placed fourth among 38 teams. Rushford-Peterson (447) was 15th and Fillmore Central (424) 32nd. For the Cougars, Hayden Erickson hit 95 birds to tie for 12th among 491 competitors. Reid Liddiard connected with 94 to tie for 19th, followed by Samuel Garness 93, Saijal Slafter 92, Colton Tollefsrud 92, Shawn Swenson 91, Kale Tollefsrud 90 and Riley Snell 90.
Samual Finley led the Trojans at 93, tied for 25th place among 491, with Ryan McNeill at 92 and Chace Drazkowski at 90. The Falcons were led by Cowan Keim who scored 86.
Among 20 Class 8A teams, Chatfield (456) finished 16th. Zach Whalen shot a superb 98 to tie for third place among 435 rivals. Walter Olivier hit 92 clays and Joshua Austin 90.
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