In its second year of existence at the school, the Clay Target Team achieved some impressive results in the Maryland High School Clay Target League. Before sharing some of those accomplishments, it may help to understand what is clay target shooting and why participate in it? Clay target shooting is a sport where participants use shotguns to shoot at flying clay discs (targets) launched into the air to simulate the flight of birds. It’s a test of accuracy, reaction time, and hand-eye coordination. According to coaches Pat Love and Dr. Strother, “English Trap (and Skeet) are gentlemen’s sports with a long history. It is much like golf, where, competing against your own score and the score of other serious athletes, you better yourself with the goal of scoring a perfect round or successive rounds and becoming an accomplished marksman. Learning the sport has the added benefit of honing your accuracy to hunt ethically for winged fare.” 

On June 21st, the team represented The Heights in the Maryland State Championship and performed remarkably well. Rising senior Mac North took 2nd place overall shooting 97/100 clay targets, while rising junior Alexander Keegan took 5th. Most of the best shooters in the state were there. Two students from The Heights shot 25 clay targets straight and one shot 50 straight. At one point in the competition those three shot 74/75 in one round. With no graduating seniors, Coaches are excited for the team’s prospects next season.