LE ROY — The Southern Coffey County High trapshooting team is enjoying a recent streak of success.
Larry Gleue is the team’s head coach. Last year, the team’s varsity squad won the state championship title. This year, SCC’s junior varsity team came in second place at the state meet, while the varsity team came in seventh.
The area’s hunting culture helps foster the team’s success, said Hank Newton, a junior on the team.
“A lot of people hunt here and they want to get better at shooting and hitting targets,” he said. “When they see the success we’ve had, they want to join. A lot of people are involved.”
Leading the team this season were recent graduate Jalea True, incoming juniors Newton and Jagger Jacobs, and eighth-grader Charley Nickel.
Jacobs led the team at the state meet, finishing with a 95 overall. Nickel shot a 93, Newton scored a 91 and True finished with an 88. The Titans shot four rounds of 25 targets.
“Southern Coffey County hasn’t been great in many other sports so we actually get our school recognized as being good at a sport. It’s a good feeling” Newton said.
Gleue has taken the team to the state tournament every year since its start in 2019. The athletes practice in Gleue’s backyard, where he has installed a trapshooting range.
“Putting a trap range on your own private land is a good start,” said Jacobs of coach Gleue. “We probably wouldn’t be the team we are right now without him (Gleue). You can tell they want us to succeed at it and they clearly enjoy it themselves. They give us a lot of time.”
As trapshooting becomes a more popular sport, the competition becomes that much tougher for SCC’s shooters. The winning score at the state meet was a 99, a nearly impossible mark to hit.
Still, SCC’s shooters are focused on getting better.
“Setting your feet in the right place is really important so you don’t have to put your back in a weird place or aim in a weird position,” Newton said.
“I’ve been experimenting with controlled breathing and it works,” said Jacobs. “Once you get down a solid breathing exercise it helps to focus.”
What also bodes well for the team is a strong group of returning shooters.
As an eighth-grader, Nickel has competed with some of the best in the state.
