By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post

Nearly 100 shooters from 12 universities across the country competed in Fort Hays State University’s sixth annual Open Collegiate Clay Target Competition Saturday and Sunday.

Oklahoma State University’s Shooting Team member Austin Knapp said the FHSU’s annual event is one of the best and biggest around.

“This is my third year coming. They put on a really great shoot,” Knapp said.

“We have outstanding shooters represented here,” FHSU’s Shooting Team Head Coach Duane Shepherd added, noting the sport has grown “exponentially” in the last few years.

“We started our club in summer of 2005 and I think there were 33 to 35 teams in the national tournament that year,” Shepherd said. “Last year there were 117.”

Shepherd said the sport takes lots of a lot of dedication and discipline.

“It is a mind game because you are shooting 100 targets at a time,” he said.

The annual event was the first for freshman Erica Bonetti, who came from Sacramento, Calif., this year to join the FHSU Shooting Team.

She agreed the sport is a mental one.

“I like the competition aspect because it is a mental game. Only you can do your best, it is not anyone else,” Bonetti said.

The colleges that participated in the event were FHSU, Wichita State University, Connors State (Okla.), Oklahoman State University, Trinidad State (Colo.), University of Central Missouri, University of Missouri, Colorado State University, Colorado University, Hastings College (Neb.), University of Wyoming and Tarleton State (Texas).

The event was held at the Hays City Sportsman’s Club.