The Upper Iowa shotgun sports team competed in their largest competition to date this past weekend at the William Penn Invite. The event was hosted by William Penn University at Marion County Sportsman Club in Knoxville, Iowa on Friday and at Black Oak Clays in Pella, Iowa on Saturday and Sunday. Teams from seven different schools competed across the three days.

Each competitor shot 100 targets in five different disciplines with the top five scores counting towards the team's score in each discipline. The teams shot 100 trap targets on Friday, followed by 100 skeet and sporting clay targets on Saturday, and 100 double skeet and super sporting targets on Sunday. The five athletes with the best combined scores across the five disciplines contributed to the team's high overall average.
 
UIU finished in fourth place with a team HOA of 2,096 out of 2,500 targets. William Penn finished with the highest overall score at 2,286 and were followed by Iowa Western Community College (2,189) and Midland University (2,148). 
 
On Friday, the Peacocks broke 461/500 trap targets. Colton Heintz-Kuderer led the way with a score of 95/100. He was followed by Angelina Monfrey (94/100) and Jayden Shaw (92/100).
 
On Saturday, UIU recorded their best score across the five disciplines, breaking 471/500 skeet targets. Monfrey not only led the team but was one of only two competitors overall to record a perfect score of 100/100. She was followed by Heintz-Kuderer (96/100) and Lucas Riberich (95/100).
 
In sporting clays, the Peacocks successfully hit 347/500 targets. Heintz-Kuderer once again paced the team with a score of 76/100. Connor Gittings (74/100) and Riberich (67/100) recorded the next best scores on the team.
 
On Sunday, UIU put together a strong total in double skeet at 451/500. Monfrey finished with the top score on the team at 93/100 and was followed by Heintz-Kuderer (91/100) and Shaw (90/100).
 
In the final discipline of the weekend, the Peacocks broke 368/500 super sporting clays. Heintz-Kuderer and Monfrey helped lead the way with scores of 86/100 and 74/100 respectively.
 
"Leading up to this competition, we worked on dialing in on skeet and it showed with the team's performance" said Head Coach Reba Kingsley.  "We know that when we go to Pella that the sporting course will be set well and have technical targets. The student-athletes did a good job executing their plan on stations and took away targets they need to work on."
 
Up next, the UIU shotgun sports team will compete head-to-head vs. Hawkeye Community College for the second time this season in a dual scheduled for October 27 in Ackley, Iowa.