East Clinton returns several of the top shooters to its clay target club team this spring.
Madison Frazer was the top female athlete in Conference 1 last season and 10 in the state among female high school trap shooters.
Aaron Rolfe was runnerup male athlete in Conference 1 while Mitchell Ellis was sixth and Preston Dixon was 10th.
Members of the club for spring 2021 include Conner Beitusch, skeet; Austin Burden, trap; Carter Carey, skeet; Cody Chaney, 5-stand; Preston Dixon, trap; Mitchell Ellis, trap; Cameron Ferguson, trap and skeet; Brody Fisher, skeet; Madi Frazer, skeet and trap; Nick Gates, skeet; Owen Roberts, skeet and trap; Aaron Rolfe, trap and 5-stand; Noah Starns, 5-stand; Evan Stewart, 5-stand; Gabe Stewart, trap; Colten Woods, skeet and trap.
In fall of 2020 the East Clinton trap team competed on a state level and the skeet team competed on a national level.
Final results from fall 2020 trap had Adena first with East Clinton second and New Riegel third.
Final Results from fall 2020 skeet had Lapel, Ind. first, Connellsville, Pa. second, East Clinton third and Frutia Monument, Colo. fourth. Next in line was Southeast High School (Wyo.), Central (Ala.), George Walton Academy (Ga.) and Porter (Texas).
The East Clinton Astros clay target club team will compete this spring in skeet, trap and 5-stand.
The club team competes against other high school clubs teams in the Ohio State High School Clay Target League, a division of the USA Clay Target League.
East Clinton formed its club in the spring of 2019. Ohio State High School Clay Target League is a virtual league allowing high schools to participate all over the state without travel from school to school. All competitions occur on a range close to the school. East Clinton utilizes the Clinton County Farmer’s and Sportsman’s Association for all club activities.
Scoring is based on two 25 rounds of either skeet, trap or 5-stand. All scores are submitted via a secured scoring website where they are calculated and posted at the end of the league.
Other Ohio High Schools participating are Adena, Alexander, Athens, Buckeye Valley, Colonel Crawford, Fayette, Findley, Grand Valley, Heritage Christian, Huntington, Kenton, Nelsonville-York, North Ridgeville, Olentangy Liberty and Trimble. The league advocates safety first, followed by enjoyment of the sport and then marksmanship.
East Clinton has an eight-person skeet team, nine-person trap team and four-person 5-stand team. Trap is a clay target game of 25 targets with five participants at a time. Each participant has the opportunity to break five targets at each of five stations. Stations are placed nine feet apart in a line 16 yards behind a clay target throwing machine. The machine is set to randomly thrown five different target presentations in front of each participant.
Skeet also is 25 targets with participants moving between eight different stations. There are two clay target throwing machines launching targets that cross the eight stations allowing for single and double targets to be hit.
Five-stand is new this season. It consists of 25 targets thrown from eight different machines. Participants rotate between five stations with five targets thrown per station. Each station consists of a single, a report pair and a true pair of targets.
Due to Covid restrictions all scores and results will be held and released in May.
