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After a successful outing at the Hoosier Fall Collegiate Invitational at Fulton County Gun Club and KOSKO Shotgun Sports Complex in Indiana, Oct. 19-20, the Montcalm Community College Centurions clay target shooting team has its sights set on championship competition these next two weekends.

The five-person team of sophomore and captain Drake Syrjala (Lakeview, Mich.) and freshmen Jack McBride (Portland, Mich.), Azariah Trumble (Greenville, Mich.), Chase Merritt (Greenville, Mich.) and Evan Plonka (Lenox, Mich.) had a good showing at the Hoosier Invitational, said Centurions Interim Head Coach Hunter Redman.

“We did pretty well that weekend,” he said.

As a team, MCC won singles (trap) with a score of 464, beating out Ferris State and Concordia Wisconsin by one. The Centurions also took third place in skeet.

In the trap competition, McBride earned a tie for second place overall in the singles category with a score of 97, tying with Ferris State’s Trevor Lantis; Plonka (95) took sixth and Syrjala and Merritt (92 each) finished tied for seventh place. Trumble (88) finished 11^th.

Redman said having five players on this year’s team has made a big difference in competing.

“Last year, because we only had four guys, we didn’t compete in as many competitions,” he said. “Now we are a full team so we’re able to post better numbers and we’ve been much more competitive.”

This Saturday and Sunday, the Centurions will travel to Bunker Hill, Ill. to compete in the USA Clay Target Trap Nationals, which begins at 9 a.m. MCC will be among 18 schools and more than 200 shooters, mixed with both two-year and four-year colleges.

The Centurions have enjoyed a full five-man team but will go into nationals minus one. Despite that, McBride said he and his teammates are going into nationals with high expectations.

“I expect that we will place highly at nationals,” he said.

Redman said his team has been preparing for this moment all season.

“They put in the work,” he said. “But, really, it’s just another day out on the field. It’s about hitting targets and they know how to shoot.”

Redman hopes his team’s hard work will pay off in individual accolades, but, for the most part, considering the team is still practically new, he hopes his players just enjoy the moment.

“Not having all five guys is kind of a bummer, so they’ll have to compete individually, but I want these guys to just have fun with it,” he said. “Part of this, too, is building for next year and so if we can do that next year, it’ll be exciting to see what we can do.”

Once nationals are over, MCC will quickly turn to focusing on the Michigan College Clay Target Championship, which will be held at Halter Shooting Sports Education Center in Hilldale, Saturday, Nov. 9.

Last year, the Centurions took third place in skeet, but with a full team, Redman is hoping for a better result this year. With trap being the stronger showing for MCC, Redman expects his team will mirror what it has been doing all season, as the team has finished first the fourth and fifth week of the season.

“Trap is definitely our best one of the two,” Redman said. “We will have 10 different schools we will be competing against, but our team is more competitive, and they’ve been working very hard in practice in both categories. A lot of freshmen have never shot skeet before, so it’s a gradual improvement, and I believe our guys are doing that, too.”

 McBride said the next two weekends are his team’s biggest moments and what he’s learned over this past season will help him in the upcoming championship events, stating that if the mental aspect of the competition is the biggest hurdle for each shooter.

“I have learned that my scores are better when I am calm and completely focused on that shot each time,” he said, “and that my mindset can have an affect on my scores, too.”

As interim coach and not having much experience in the sport, Redman said he has heavily relied on assistant coaches Bob Pickel and Chris Henry, who he said have really helped the players progress and succeed as the season moved forward.

“They’ve worked really, really hard to get where they are and help improve the players,” Redman said of his assistant coaches.

Visit montcalmcenturions.com for full schedule, rosters and other news.