Apollo Trapshooting Team Locked In For National Championships

ST. CLOUD -- Nine St. Cloud students are locked on target this week as the Apollo Trapshooting team gets ready to compete at the National Championship.

The team completed just their second season, and will now face 2,000 of the nations' best youth clay target student-athletes. Captain Megan Gohman says with the strong competition, more metal focus will be needed.

You have to have a set schedule on how and what you shoot. If you don't you might start rushing your shot and miss the bird.

Gohman is not only the lone girl on Apollo's national team but one of the top shooters as well. She says there can be a stereotype about the sport, but for her, it's all about having fun.

Try not to care what everyone thinks. I still wear makeup and do my nails and I have the second best shooting average on the team.

Trap shooting has become a growing sport among high schools. Mary Barron-Traut is one of the team's coaches. She says since the team was formed in 2017, they've doubled in numbers.

She says a big reason trapshooting is becoming popular is because athletes forced out of other sports can easily pick it up.

We've got athletes on our team who can't compete in their other sports anymore due to some type of injury. But now these students can participate in this sport.

Captain John Gerads has been shooting since he was 11-years-old. He says there is a sense of peace when he walks out on the range.

There's a sense of relaxation. You get out here and focus on the orange target flying through the air and shoot it.

He says he's looking forward to nationals and with their recent success, wouldn't be surprised to see the sport grow among central Minnesota schools.

The USA High School Clay Target League's National Championship is in Mason, Michigan Friday through Sunday.