South Placer Trapshooters prepare for Nationals following a successful regular season

Multiple athletes from high schools in the South Placer area will compete this week at the 2022 US Open Competition Shoot in Las Vegas, Nevada. Del Oro, Granite Bay and Woodcreek high schools have teams and individuals who participated in skeet or trap shooting events since March and who recently competed at the state competition shoot in Stockton on June 11 and June 12. In the individual results at the state shoot, Del Oro's Jaxon Westlake took first-place hitting 197 of 200 targets and going 50 for 50 in a shoot-off against Hunter Schuler from Saint Mary's. Wyatt Payne also performed well, hitting 192 targets, and led Del Oro Sportsmen's Club to a fourth-place finish as a team with a score of 929. Sean DeRungs hit 181 targets for the Golden Eagles and went 100 for 100 at a shoot in Auburn back in May. Chase Knieriem has also performed well for the Golden Eagles on various occasions throughout the season. Granite Bay High came in second as a team at 944, led by Nick Pascual, who tied for sixth individually with 194 out of 200 targets hit. Michael Astle hit 192 targets at the competition while Brenden Hackett hit 191. Ethan Dickson also shot well, hitting 189 targets. Woodcreek High also had various shooters perform well at the state shoot, including Adin Doll and Victor Carrillo in the young adults' division. Doll tied for sixth in the division, hitting 189 targets, while Carrillo tied for eighth at 185 targets hit. Doll is on a college scholarship and has been a part of a collegiate national championship team at Midland University in Nebraska. In the team competition, the Timberwolves came in 19th with a team score of 879 and were led by Olivia Allen who hit 181 targets. Jacob Maisano hit 180 targets while Kyle Gobbi was right behind him with 179. Gobbi performed well at various shoots throughout the season such as at Stockton in May when he hit 98 out of 100 targets. He medaled in three tournaments during the season. "From the start of the season, we have had some really big improvements," Woodcreek coach Jeff Doll said. "The new shooters, many of which had never held a shotgun, began in January and could only hit two or three targets out of 25 but were scoring in the high teens and low 20s by the end of the season. Next week at the US Open, we're hoping to make an impact in all three of the events and we have a real chance to win both as a team and individually as well. Our varsity shooters learned what it's going to take to get to the podium and have focused at practice to refine their skills to make that happen." Multiple college coaches at the US Open will look at athletes, meaning there is a chance that some local shooters might be recruited.