Trap team expands to include Abbotsford

By Nathaniel Underwood

The newly formed Colby/Abbotsford trap team has gotten a good jump on their first combined season. After three weeks of practice rounds, the team had its first official scored head to head session this past Monday.

After several years of operating as the Colby trap team, the club is now welcoming Abbotsford students to compete in the 2024 season, a move that coach Dan Hederer hopes will give more area students an opportunity to learn about and take part in the sport. The additional pool of students brings in several new faces to a team that was already seeing some turnover from prior years.

Returning to shoot from last season are Braxton Meyer, Brennan Geiger, Tristen Smazal, Will Hennes and Nolt Dommer. Meyer and Geiger both shot at the varsity level at last year’s state tournament, finishing with scores of 90 and 88 out of 100 targets respectively. Smazal and Hennes meanwhile competed at the JV level, taking 47th and 94th overall in that competition. Dommer finished in 43rd in the novice bracket at state.

Adding to the returners will be six newcomers to the team. Jaxon Polivka, Sophie Kulesa, Evan Reis, Evan Resech, Jack Schindler and Noah Schraufnagel will be joining the team for the first time this season, with five of those additions coming from Abbotsford.

With the current numbers and the skill level that he has seen over the first few weeks of practice, Hederer believes that the team could perhaps field an entire varsity squad at the state tournament this season, something that they have not done since the team began.

“The kids we have are very good shooters,” Hederer said. “You need to have a 19 or better average (out of 25) to qualify, so hopefully they keep going and we can end up having a team on varsity. Before they’ve basically been at state competing as individuals, but hopefully this year with the shooters that we have that are shooting very well, we could have a varsity team down there.”

While competing with the top teams at state would be a tall order, as the best squads usually shoot 95 out of 100 or better

2024 COLBY/ABBOTSFORD TRAP - The 2024 trap team, pictured above left to right, are Bill Hennes, Carl Jaeschke, Rod Smazal, Tom Neumann, Sophie Kulesa, Evan Resech, Brennan Geiger, Will Hennes, Tristen Smazal, Nolt Dommer, Braxton Meyer, Tom Reinhart, Jaxon Polivka, Jim Brodhagen and Dan Hederer. Not pictured are Jack Schindler, Noah Schraufnagel, Evan Reis, Dave Hennes and Chad Pagelsdorf.

STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD

LINING UP THE SHOT - Sophie Kulesa, above, takes aim during the trap team’s final practice session while Will Hennes, below, reloads between shots.

STAFF PHOTOS/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD