Three teams from North Dakota placed in competition at the National 4-H Shooting Sports Invitational in Grand Island, Neb.

A Ramsey County senior shooting sports team finished ninth in the shotgun events. Team members were Beth McDonald, Michael Bischoff, Morgan Hanson and Austin Erickson. McDonald placed 25th individually.

Another Ramsey County senior team placed 13th in the air rifle events. Team members were Cole Hanson, Derek Melcer and Colton McAllister. Melcer placed 35th individually.

The senior Stutsman County team of Cody Beach, Clay Hatlewick, Skylar Sand and Chris Wells placed 12th in compound archery competition. Sand placed 36th individually.

Each match of the competition, held June 19-21, consisted of three events.

The air rifle match consisted of a standing 40-shot, three-position 60-shot and silhouette 60-shot competition. The silhouette match required the youth to shoot at targets out to 40 yards. The shotgun events involved skeet, trap and field sporting clays. Each event required 100 shots from each contestant.

In the archery events, contestants were required to take shots from a few feet to 60 yards at 30 3-D animal targets and 14 field archery targets, and shoot five rounds of arrows at a French International Governing Body of Archery target.

This was the first time North Dakota sent teams to compete in all three disciplines.

“Overall, it was a great learning experience for the teams and coaches that will be useful in the coming years,” says Adrian Biewer, a North Dakota State University 4-H youth development specialist and the shooting sports program’s coordinator.

NDSU Agriculture Communication - July 27, 2012