The varsity boys shooting team has five events that lie ahead of them this spring. Their most recent event was the Youth Target Foundation Regional Shootout on Dec. 6. The varsity team took home the silver medal in the skeet portion of the event, and secured the first place in the trap portion of the contest. Varsity team member and Senior Cecil Linke said that he was pleased with his performance at this last event.

“I’m happy with the way I competed,” Linke said. “For skeet, I shot a 46 out of 50, and for trap I shot a 41 out of 50.”

Although the 2015 season is just now beginning to lock and load, Linke said the team is optimistic about how the team will fare against their tough competition.

“I don’t want to jinx it this early in the season, but I think our chances of repeating last year’s success are pretty high,” Linke said.

In the summer season of last year, the varsity shooting team travelled to Sparta, Illinios, to compete in the 2014 NSCA National Championship. Linke said that even though nerves were high and the pressure was on, that the team would be victorious and leave the championship with gold medals around their necks.

“Winning the National title last year was a huge confidence booster for me,” Linke said. “The feeling of being a champion didn’t sink in until we recently got our Championship rings.”

Being a senior, Linke said he’s going to miss competing at the high school level with his good friends, but intends to pursue the sport he loves for as long as time allows.

“I guess what I love the most is the competition and seeing the clay targets break in mid-air,” Linke said. “And by winning the National Championship last year made me feel like all my work has paid off. The feeling I get from this sport is something that I never want to give up, and I intend to get better and keep shooting for the rest of my life.”