William Penn Nearly Sweeps All Titles in Season Opener
Cedar Falls–The Statesmen shotgun sports team opened up its second campaign with a star-studded performance at the Iowa College Shotgun Shooting Conference event hosted by Wartburg Saturday.
WPU was first out of five teams by hitting 1,433 of its 1,500 targets (95.5%), taking the crown by 28 shots. The squad walked off with event titles in Sporting Clays and Skeet and tied for first in Trap. In addition to WPU and Wartburg, Upper Iowa and Coe were also in the field.
The day began with Sporting Clays and Christopher Berkshire-Lewis (Jr., Kansas City, Mo., Business Management) led the way for both William Penn and the entire field with a score of 95-for-100. Mathew Brindley and Noah Seelye (Fr., Pella, Iowa, Mechanical Engineering) tied for second on the team at 92-for-100, while Lane Arrowood (Fr., Newton, Iowa, Biology) was at 91-for-100. The duo of Jake Campbell (Fr., Norwalk, Iowa, Industrial Technology) and Dryden DeKoning (Fr., Newton, Iowa, Business Management) each connected on 90 of their targets to conclude the team scoring. Overall, the Statesmen earned the event win at 460-for-500.
Raylee Bishop was the best female in Sporting Clays at 89-for-100, while Breale McFarland (So., Rio Rancho, N.M., Education) was third at 84-for-100.
The Skeet competition witnessed several newcomers rise to the top of the standings. Dominick Ver Meer won the event at 98-for-100, while Brindley was second at 97-for-100 and Campbell was third at 96-for-100. Bishop, Berkshire-Lewis, and Hunter Lucas (Jr., Washington, Iowa) all tied for fifth on the team at 95-for-100, while Bishop topped the female shooters in Skeet as well.
Gideon Boender (So., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Industrial Technology), at 94-for-100, and Ashley Hunter, at 92-for-100, also posted notable scores for WPU.
William Penn earned the Skeet team title at 481-for-500.
The Trap competition concluded the day and the Statesmen once again finished at the top, tying for first at 492-for-500. Berkshire-Lewis and Bryon Baca (Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) just missed perfect scores, going 99-for-100, while Baca won the shoot-off for the event crown.
The quintet of Arrowood, Bishop, Seelye, Maclane Heinen (So., Pella, Iowa, Business Management), and Kade Dunkin (Fr., Hamilton, Iowa) were right on their teammates’ heels at 98-for-100. Bishop was second in the women’s standings, while Hunter was third at 97-for-100.
Individually, Bishop went home with the Female High Overall Athlete award at 283-for-300 (won by six shots), while Berkshire-Lewis lost the Male HOA accolade by just one target (289-for-300) to earn the runner-up placing.
“I am very proud of how our athletes came together today as a team,” Head Coach Steven Heaton said. “I was very impressed how they communicated and helped each other do their best. We have some things to work on to get even better, but the talent of this team is tremendous.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Lincoln, Neb. Friday through Sunday to compete in the Midland Ice-Out.
