Head Clay Target Coach Garners National Honors

Head Clay Target Coach Tom Stoe recently competed in the Grand American World Trapshooting Championships in Sparta, IL. The annual event is the largest event of its kind. It spanned several days, held  20 plus events and had over 4,500 competitors from around the globe come to try to claim one of the prestigious titles. This will be the 102nd consecutive year the Grand American has taken place.

Amateur Trapshooting Association Executive Director Lynn Gipson said this to WSILTV.com about the event, "The top shooters in the nation and probably the world are competing," he continued "The best of the best are here."

Our very own Tom Stoe, was able to best the competition in the 19-20 yard range and win the title of World Champion. He said, "It was a great experience getting to compete in such an amazing event. I was fortunate to go out there and have a good week of competition."

Athletic Director Danny Mertens, "I first want to start with a congratulations to Tom. This is an impressive achievement and we are very fortunate to have him as Head Coach. The Clay Target team is the fastest growing sport on campus and one of the fastest growing in the nation. Having someone like Tom to work with our kids, to mold them, to teach them is wonderful."

"I am excited about the season," Tom said, "We have a great group of kids on the team this year and I am looking forward to continuing to build this into a strong program that LRSC can be proud of."

With returning 2021 Spring Clay Target League champion Jacob Schempp and a host of other returners, the Royals will look to make some noise during the MCAC season. Week 1 of the season will be held starting September 12th.

You can learn more about the event by visiting the website for the Grand American HERE.

The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) that governs all the other LRSC athletic programs just recently named Clay Target as an emerging sport. They formally recognized it as an NJCAA sport this past season. You can read more about that on the NJCAA website HERE or a past article on the LRSCRoyals.com website HERE.

If you or someone you know is interested in joining the LRSC Clay Target team they can fill out a recruit me form on our website HERE.

Congratulations Tom and Go Royals!