By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays High School Trap Team placed second in the 2A Conference as it completed its first full year of competition this spring.
The team competed in the state tournament Saturday in Sedgwick with Monique William placing second at the tournament and first in the conference. She shot 97 of the possible 100 targets Saturday.
Chase Whitman was the third female overall at the state tournament with 95 points out of 100 possible.
The team of 10 students placed seventh out of 30 teams at the state tournament.
Monique's sister, Madalyn William, finished the season third in the conference.
The HHS team was formed in 2020, but the pandemic prevented the team from competing in its first season.
Monique William, a senior, said she was excited to be able to compete with her classmates this season.
She has been shooting competitively through 4-H since she was in the eighth grade. She received an invitation from Russell High School to shoot with its team in 2019. She placed first that year at state.
She was excited to win the title in the varsity division, but wanted to compete for her own school. Parents, students and teachers rallied to put together a club sport team, which was approved by the USD 489 school board.
The sport is not Kansas High School Activities Association sponsored, so the team has sought sponsors to pay for travel and ammunition. Students provide their own firearms.
The students practice and compete at the Hays Sportsman Club. They shoot with their team locally for five rounds of 50 clays each in the spring. Those scores are sent into the Kansas Trap Shooting Association so the students can be ranked among students at other schools.
Students compete in varsity, junior varsity and novice divisions. Trap shooting is one of the fastest growing sports in high school, coach Mike Eckroat said.
"Anyone can do this sport," he said, "and with a little coaching like the other sports, you can be very, very good at this."
The final state meet was in person. Although the association provides a national competition in Michigan, Eckroat said he did not think any of the local students would have the opportunity to attend.
Monique was in a serious horse riding accident several years ago. She can no longer compete in volleyball or track, but she can represent her school by shooting trap, she said.
She said the HHS team is like a big family. Her favorite aspect of the sport is meeting people.
"We all stay connected with each other," she said. "When one of us is struggling, we always try to go over there and try to help and figure out what we can do differently to help them succeed."
The students shoot individually, but all of those individual scores are combined for team scores.
"Getting new kids involved is always fun too," she said. "We want to show there are other sports you can do besides your well-known sports. It's fun. It's a big family environment."
In the fall, Monique will shoot for the Fort Hays State University Trap Team, which has brought home many national titles. She is already practicing with that team and knows some of her stiffest competition will likely come from her teammates.
Trap team members do not receive scholarships, but those students with high averages of broken targets receive financial assistance with ammunition and travel.
Monique plans to major in biology/pre-med. She would like to pursue a career as a trauma surgeon.
Eckroat said he was very pleased in the students' performance in their first year of competition.
"This was an amazing experience for me to take these kids down there," Eckroat said. "These 10 were such professionals when they were up there. They are dedicated to the sport. They enjoy the sport, and they are all there for each other. Even though they shoot against each other, they are still all one team."
If you are interested in being a sponsor for the team, contact Alex Ford at HHS at 785-623-2600.