The Upper Iowa shotgun sports team this past Sunday competed at the Day of Clays, presented by the Midway USA Foundation, for the first time. The event was held at the Pheasant Bonanza Hunt Club in Tekameh, Nebraska and featured 30 participating teams.
 
Each competitor shot 100 sporting clay targets with the top four scores counting towards the team's overall score out of 400. 
 
UIU finished in 2nd place, breaking a total of 336/400 targets. The squad was led by Lucas Riberich who finished with a score of 87/100. He was followed by Brady Emswiler (85/100), Connor Gittings (84/100), and Colton Heintz-Kuderer (80/100).
 
Other participating competitors for the Peacocks included Angelina Monfrey (79/100), Brady Carrigan (72/100), and Gage Witzke (60/100).
 
"The team has been working more on sporting clays recently," said Head Coach Reba Kingsley. "This was a great opportunity to showcase their hard work and to support youth shooting sports with the Midway USA Foundation."
 
"Despite some adversity during the spring season, I'm proud of how the student athletes handled those moments and didn't let it stop their drive," Kingsley continued. "There has been growth in the team's abilities, and it's been great seeing their potential unfold."
 
Sunday represented the last event for the 2021-22 season for shotgun sports. The team was able to finish in the top three in 4 of their 9 events this year.
 
Individually, the Peacocks had three different members take home awards. Monfrey and Quinn Schuppner finished with the 3rd and 5th best Ladies Overall score at the Iowa SCTP State Championships while Gittings placed 3rd in super sporting clays at the Simpson Shootout.
 
Those three, along with Heintz-Kuderer, represent the group of Peacocks who finished in the top two of a shooting discipline at some point this season during competition.