For Immediate Release
Contact: Daniel Wackershauser, Marketing and PR Specialist
Phone: 608.822.2303
Mail: 1800 Bronson Blvd., Fennimore, WI 53809
Date of Release: January 19, 2024
Clay target team wins conference titles
Team debuts in skeet competition
Fennimore -
The Southwest Wisconsin Technical College Clay Target Team continued its winning tradition during the fall seasons. The 23-member team competes in the USA College Clay Target League, as well as the Minnesota College Athletic Conference (MCAC). Both leagues included five weeks of competition, which concluded with conference championships. The MCAC Conference Championship was held in Alexandria, Minnesota, while the USA league championship was held virtually – the team competed from its home course in Muscoda and submitted the results to the league. “The season went well,” said Matt Schneider, advisor, who, along with Dan Imhoff, executive director of facilities, and Mia Hillebrand, coaches the team.
MCAC
Fifteen colleges competed during the season. Southwest Tech is the lone college from Wisconsin in the league. The Chargers finished as regular season champions in the Red Division, which included seven colleges. Brody Lee, Mineral Point, a welding student, was the individual winner in the conference championship, followed by John Schweiger, an agriculture student from Hillsboro, who finished second. Lee averaged 24.8 out of 25 targets, while Schweiger finished with an average of 24.6 out of 25. Lee and Schweiger finished in second and third place, respectively, during the conference season. The top female during the conference season was Lora Hinz, an Auto Collision Repair and Refinish Technican student from Hillpoint, who finished in sixth place.
As a team, Southwest Tech placed fourth at the MCAC Championship. The Chargers actually finished in a tie for third, losing the spot in the tie breaker. The team finished one point behind second place. “We had a really good showing,” said Schneider.
USA College Clay Target League
For the first time, the Chargers shot both trap and skeet during this league this year. “We think by doing this it will make the team more attractive,” said Imhoff.
Lee and Schweiger finished first and second, respectively, in the conference championship, as well as the trap portion of the league. The Chargers are in Conference 5, the largest division in the league. Overall, the USA league includes 42 teams from two-year and four-year colleges throughout the country.
As a team, Southwest Tech won its division. “It was an impressive showing,” said Schneider.
During the skeet portion of the season, Lee finished in third place, while Jake Ward, a Criminal Justice student from Black River Falls, finished fourth. “This was our first year competing in skeet and we were very happy,” said Imhoff.
At the championship competition, Emma NeCollins, a Universtiy Transfer Liberal Arts student from Platteville, was the novice female champion.
As a team, the Chargers took fourth place out of 42 teams at the championship. “We were super competitive,” said Schneider. The team had won the championship the previous two years.
Future
The spring clay target season will begin in late March. In addition, Southwest Tech will be hosting the High School Invitational Trapshoot on Saturday, May 4. That event will be held at the Muscoda Sportsman’s Club.
More information about the team can be found here: www.swtc.edu/athletics.
| Southwest Wisconsin Technical College, is one of 16 institutions that comprise the Wisconsin Technical College System. Southwest Tech offers more than 60 programs in a wide variety of disciplines. Courses are offered on campus, online, HyFlex and in a blended format. The college provides apprenticeship, certificate, technical diploma, and associate degree programs that respond to district workforce needs and prepare student for family-sustaining jobs and career advancement. |