The Upper Iowa shotgun sports team competed at the National Collegiate Shooting Sports Athletic Association Central Region Qualifier this past weekend. The event was hosted by Midland University at the Lincoln Trap and Skeet Club in Lincoln, Nebraska, and featured teams from 13 schools.
 
Each competitor shot 100 targets in three different disciplines over the course of two days with the top five scores counting towards the team's score in each discipline. The teams shot American skeet and sporting clays on Saturday before shooting American trap and sporting clays on Sunday. The five athletes with the best combined scores across the three disciplines contributed to the team's high overall average.
 
UIU finished in 10th place with a team HOA of 1,244 targets. Fort Hays State University finished with the highest overall score at 1,428 and were followed by Concordia University-Nebraska (1,399) and William Penn University (1,387).
 
On Saturday, the Peacocks as a team hit 446/500 targets shooting skeet. Individually, Connor Gittings led the way with a score of 95/100. He was followed by Lucas Riberich (94/100) and Colton Heintz-Kuderer (91/100). Angelina Monfrey (85/100) and Jayden Shaw (83/100) also contributed to the team score.
 
On Sunday, UIU successfully shot 456/500 targets in trap. Heintz-Kuderer paced the team with a score of 94/100. Shaw and Matthew Moore each recorded scores of 91/100, while Gittings and Gage Witzke contributed with scores of 90/100.
 
Over the course of the two days, the Peacocks finished with a total score of 354/500 in sporting clays. Heintz-Kuderer was again the top score on the team at 80/100, and he was followed by Riberich (77/100) and Luke Recker (67/100).
 
"This was the team's first competition of the fall including all three disciplines, and it really highlighted the areas each of our student-athletes need to work on in order to be more consistent in their shooting abilities" said Head Coach Reba Kingsley. "Working on the identified areas will help the team gain more targets as we continue the season."
 
Up next, the UIU shotgun sports team will make the short trip to Cedar Falls, Iowa to compete in the Wartburg College Invite beginning on September 24.