Jonesboro, AR – Jonesboro Right Now – The hot temperatures of Sparta, IL didn’t stop the Jonesboro Trap Team, who delivered equally hot scores at a national competition last month.

The team participated in the AIM Grand National Trapshooting Championships from July 24-28. They competed against a massive field of 3,428 young competitors–ranging from 10 to 21 years old–from across the United States.

Sending just 20 members divided into four squads, the team brought home a haul of 34 awards, which included 24 individual medals and 10 squad medals.

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Squad Highlights

Local squads dominated the leaderboards in their respective divisions:

• “Young Guns” (Presub Sub Junior Overall Champions): The squad of Falcon Thompson, Griff Weems, Krewe Johnson, Caine Newberry, and Mackenzie Walpole secured the title with a combined score of 909/1000.
• “Dirty Dusters” (Sub Junior AA Runner-up): Parker Bray, Dutch Cox, Easton Skaggs, Jacob Bullington, and Foxx Thompson earned runner-up honors with a score of 955/1000.

“We had the added challenge of sunny hot weather all tournament weekend with heat indices around 120°,” Coach Joey Glaub said. “We had practiced regularly here at the Jonesboro Shooting Sports Complex two or more days a week leading up to the National Championships, so we were acclimated to those temperatures.”

Individual Standouts & High All Around

The team saw some individual triumphs in the High All Around category, which combines scores from the Singles, Handicaps, and Doubles events:

• Griff Weems: Presub Junior Champion
• Caine Newberry: Presub Junior Class B Runner-up
• Braden Kirk: Sub Junior Class AA Runner-up
• Ryan Pitts: Junior Class D Champion

Personal Bests

Several athletes also achieved significant personal bests during the competition:

• Caine Newberry: Hit his first 25 straight
• Josie Snyder: Shot 50 straight in singles
• Jacob Bullington: Posted a massive 195/200 in singles

“One of the main reasons I stay involved as a trap coach is getting the opportunity to watch our student athletes set goals and then crush them,” Glaub said regarding the milestones. “Next, we set a new, more challenging goal and begin the process to achieve it through commitment, determination and focus.”

The Collegiate Connection

The pipeline of local talent extended directly to the university level:

• ASU Red Wolves Shooting Sports Club: Guided by the same Jonesboro Trap Team coaching staff, the university team clinched the Collegiate Division 1 Singles Champions title.
• Junior Gold Squad: Cole Cureton, Mason Bray, Caroline Epperson, Kameron Coles, and Hunter Walpole took Junior Gold Class B Runner-up honors with a combined score of 967/1000.
• Cole Cureton: Named the Junior Gold Class B Champion in Doubles

“We have found great success building a competitive youth trapshooting team beginning youth at 5th and 6th grade level,” Glaub explained. “Lay a solid foundation of physical mechanics and then work to develop focused, disciplined team winning mindset. Most all of the ASU Shooting Sports team members came through the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Youth Shooting Sports trapshooting program of which Jonesboro Trap Team competes.”

Participants from the Jonesboro Trap Team (Courtesy of Joey Glaub)

The Brookland Bearcats Trap Team also participated in the event, competing in multiple events in the Junior and Sub Junior categories in squads of five shooters each.

The team said on Facebook that each squad finished the championship rounds as the national runner-up in each of their respective categories. Max Counts also finished individually as runner-up for the singles competition in his category.

Participants from the Brookland Bearcats Trap Team (Courtesy of the Brookland Bearcats Trap Team/Facebook)

The Westside Warriors Trap Team had a fantastic showing at the competition, bringing home several team and individual awards.

Team Achievements

• Sub Junior Team: Captured the Class AA Championship with an overall score of 959/1000. The winning team consisted of Nate Davis, Keegan Prentice, Lawson Murray, Drake Layne, and Talyn Qualls.
• Junior Team: Put up strong numbers and represented the Warriors well according to the team. Team members included Sam Sloan, Rowan Roberts, Chandler Waldrupe, Drew Myers, and Austin Statler.

Individual Highlights

• Nate Davis: Sub Junior Class AA Champion (all categories combined), Sub Junior Class AA Runner-up (Singles), and 3rd Place (Handicaps).
• Mckenzie Walpole: High Lady Pre-Sub Junior Handicap Winner.
• Lawson Murray: 4th Place in Sub Junior Class A (Singles).

Participants from the Westside Warriors Trap Team (Courtesy of the Westside Trap Team/Facebook)

Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include the Brookland and Westside Trap Teams’ results in the competition.

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