WPU Takes Top Honors at Simpson Shoot
The Statesmen shotgun sports team walked off with another bundle of trophies as it won the Simpson Invitational Saturday and Sunday.
William Penn finished first out of nine teams with a score of 1,623-for-1,750. Wartburg was a distant second at 1,588-for-1,750.
The competition included the disciplines of Trap (100 shots), Sporting Clays (100 shots), Skeet (100 shots), and Super Sporting (50 shots).
Russell Malterud (Grad., North Branch, Minn., Master’s of Organizational Leadership) topped the navy and gold in Trap with a perfect score of 100-for-100.
Raylee Bishop (Jr., Ankeny, Iowa, Engineering) and Colten Uitermarkt (Grad., Otley, Iowa, Master’s of Organizational Leadership) were next at 99-for-100, while Connor Gittings (Jr., Kansas City, Mo., Biology) posted a score of 98-for-100. Several other Statesmen finished 97-for-100 as well.
Uitermarkt guided his squad in a difficult Sporting Clays event with a score of 87-for-100, while the duo of Noah DeBoef (Jr., Leighton, Iowa, Industrial Technology) and Noah Seelye (Jr., Pella, Iowa, Industrial Technology) each hit 85 of their 100 targets.
Tanner Muff (So., Lincoln, Neb., General Accounting) ended up with an 84-for-100 showing, while Gittings managed an 83-for-100.
Perfect 100-for-100 marks were posted by Mathew Brindley (Jr., Earlham, Iowa, Industrial Technology) and Nikolle Kussatz (Fr., Leighton, Iowa, Biology) in Skeet, while Huff and Cole Henning (Fr., Wilton, Iowa) missed just one time each.
Uitermarkt also scored for the Statesmen at 98-for-100.
Uitermarkt had the best tally in Super Sporting as well, tying Dryden DeKoning (Jr., Newton, Iowa, Business Management) for the team lead at 47-for-50.
A handful of WPU shooters hit 45 of their 50 targets, including Henning, Malterud, Colton Heintz-Kuderer (Fr., Mabel, Minn., Biology), Carver Van Zee (So., Pella, Iowa, Industrial Technology), and Emily Uitermarkt (Jr., Otley, Iowa, Elementary Education).
William Penn also claimed the top individual awards as numerous Statesmen were at the top of the leaderboards.
Uitermarkt, at 331-for-350, held off teammate Malterud (330-for-350) by just one shot for the High Overall Athlete honor.
On the women’s side, KayLynn Sieber (Jr., Marshall, Minn., Biology) was the best shooter at 312-for-350, holding off teammate Emily Uitermarkt (311-for-350) by only target for the Female HOA honor.
“This was another great competition for us,” Head Coach Steve Heaton said. “We definitely learned a lot more about each individual and what we need to do to improve moving forward.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Lincoln, Neb. Saturday and Sunday to compete in the Midland Invitational.
