Newton Trap Team tallies targets for second, third at home

Gun fire filled the air Saturday at the Jasper County Gun Club. The Newton Trap Team hosted a five-team trap shoot, involving 100 boys and girls in high school and middle school divisions.

Grinnell won the high school division with a squad total of 221 targets broken out of 250. Newton’s Cardinals finished second and third. Other teams competing were BGM, Baxter and Centerville.

Juniors Conner McAdoo, Derek Damman and Bryce Romick combined with sophomores Clay Trotter and Evan Cook to hit 192 of 250 clay targets for second place.

Three targets back was the Newton squad of senior Jake Arrowood, sophomores Logan Zaabel and Nathan Tremel, junior Matt Bleakney and sophomore Brian Bleakney with a score of 189.

“We had some team members post some of our best scores yet this season,” said Paul Klein, head coach of the Newton club. “I think the team members really wanted to shoot well today in front of our home crowd and it showed. I hope we can keep this going through the remainder of our season.”

Matt Bleakney shot his first perfect round — 25 of 25 targets — on his way to second place among male shooters in the high school division. He broke 47 out of 50 targets, just one target behind first-place finisher Dan McCamman of Grinnell.

“After shooting competitively for three years, to get my first perfect 25 feels pretty good,” said Matt Bleakney. “You have to keep your mind clear when you’re shooting through all of it. You have to make sure you’re only focused on shooting, and if you do that, you’’ll shoot pretty good.”

Sophomore Allison Winchell is the lone girl on the Newton trap team this season. She said she’s been shooting guns since she was 7 years old, going hunting with her father.

“I got a turkey earlier this morning, then came to the meet,” Winchell said. “Being the only girl is actually a lot of fun. I enjoy being on the team. Hunting is my sport, and I enjoy shooting in competition, but I really am not concerned about my scores. I just love to shoot.”

Winchell said she’s also a cheerleader, but likes the sport of hunting.

“Trap shooting requires concentration, which is something I like about it, plus the skill it takes to practice and compete in the sport. I do it for fun,” Winchell said.

Friday, the Newton Trap Team shot skeet and sporting clays against Pella, North Mahaska and Albia at Big Springs.

In skeet, Cook led Newton, hitting 41 out of 50 for 11th out of 35 shooters. Trotter had the highest score for Newton in sporting clays, 42 out of 50 targets, for 11th out of 41 shooters.

“We continue to show improvement in both events,” Klein said.

Newton returns to Big Springs this coming Saturday for a trap shoot. Newton has one more home meet, May 23 in a dual with Baxter at the Jasper County Gun Club.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535
or jsheets@newtondailynews.com