“Who Needs Luck?” read the phrase down the bright-green sleeve of the Eastern Oregon University (EOU) Trap Team Shamrock Shoot shirt sported by 64 trap shooting participants who attended the tournament on March 16 in La Grande. The Crane Union High School (CUHS) clay target team was one of six teams that participated in the EOU trap team sponsored event. Other teams included La Grande High School, Molalla High School, Union, Sagebrush, and Ukiah. Team members from other groups were there as well, but they lacked the required five team members to make the team competition. However, they were able to participate individually in the competition.

Despite the bitter cold and wind, the CUHS clay target team placed second behind La Grande, followed by Ukiah, Union, Molalla, and Sagebrush. Crane took 11 students to the competition, in which the top five shooters are counted in the scoring process. The top five scores were Levi Roath with 89/100, William Johnson (Burns High School) with 81/100, Johnny Sword with 79/100, Tanner Davis with 78/100, and Casey Otley with 71/100.  Crane’s team score was 398, behind La Grande’s team score of 424.

“We have some work to do in improving our skills, and the weather wasn’t our friend either. The kids shot well, despite the crazy weather! The season is just beginning, and we are looking forward to qualifying for the nationals tournament again in Mason, Mich.,” Coach Connie Robbins said about the team’s performance.

Individually, Roath, a junior, took third place in the men’s varsity class. Evan Marten took home the men’s first-place trophy in novice class (beginners). Warren Clayton Johnson, a coach for the CUHS team, was the winner of the coach’s shoot. Connie and Perry Robbins tied for third place.

Regular season Oregon High School Clay Target League play started the first week of April, with a practice week. Team members meet once a week at the Burns Butte Sportsmen’s Range on Radar Hill to shoot 50 targets. The scores are entered into an online score-reporting program that records individual scores and creates team and individual scores, which are then compared to other high school teams participating in the Oregon league.  There are about 32 teams this season in Oregon. The actual number has not been announced yet. The Crane team will continue to shoot each week through the months of April and May. After two weeks of practice and one week to shoot a reserve score (in case the weather is uncooperative), five weeks of competitive shooting begin. The Crane team will be placed in a conference based not on school size, as most school sports do, but on team size. The CUHS team placed first in Conference 2 last year. It consisted of teams with 11 to 15 members. There were six teams in Conference 2 last year, and the teams are still awaiting conference designations for this season.