Team Alaska returned from the National Junior Clay Target Championships with 14 medals.
The team was made up of four shooters from the Juneau Trap Shooting Team and three others — Sitka’s Ruger Parker, Wasilla’s Shelby Nevada and Colony’s Angelina Monfrey — who competed in six different shooting disciplines at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio, Texas.
“Overall the team represented Alaska extremely well,” Team Alaska coach Mark Kappler said.
Juneau’s Mackenzie Lam won six medals in the intermediate ladies division, claiming gold in the International Trap, International Skeet and American Trap events. Lam was particularly strong in American Trap, striking 90 out of 100 targets, four more birds than her closest competitor. Lam’s high overall (HOA) score, which sums the shooter’s scores four different events, was second only to Fort Worth Claymores’ Kenley Heddins.
In the senior ladies division, Juneau’s Renee Winn won bronze in both the International Skeet and Trap. In addition, Winn improved her HOA score by more than 70 points from last year at nationals.
Parker, along with Juneau’s Brice Norton and Garret Hermann, all shot in the senior men’s division. Parker finished in the top-10 for five of his six events. Norton, who improved his scores in three events from last year, placed 15th in International Trap. Hermann was most competitive in the American Trap, where he came in 33rd place with an 89 score.
Kappler said the highlight of the tournament was when five members of Team Alaska made it deep into an individual sudden-death shooting event. Each individual had to hit the target on each attempt or they missed out on the next round. By the time 10 shooters were left standing, the group consisted of five Alaskans, eliciting a reaction from the crowd, who wondered which team was wearing the green shirts.
“That was just something that really made the team proud of being from Alaska,” Kappler said.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com. Follow Empire Sports on Twitter at @akempiresports.
