SPORTS
A12 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2019
Hermiston team heading to nationals
to people and what you do
the night before.”
And, just like any sport,
there is trash talk.
“Some of us have got-
ten pretty good at it,” Mab-
bott said. “One of the worst
things you can say to get in
their head is, ‘the targets are
fl ying funny.’ ”
Bulldogs placed seventh
in the nation last year
By ANNIE FOWLER
STAFF WRITER
Haylee Hamilton has
only been shooting trap for
two years, but she is a quick
learner.
The incoming senior at
Hermiston High School is
ranked second among the
Bulldogs on the squad, and
is part of the contingent
headed to the USA High
School Clay Target League
National Championship this
weekend in Mason, Mich.
“I’m very excited to be
going,” Hamilton said. “It’s
crazy to me to be out there
and shooting with the high
shots on the team, and get-
ting to go to nationals. I’m
excited to see what I can do.
I’m not just another pretty
face.”
Hamilton will be joined
at nationals by teammates
Thomas Mabbott, Kaden
Smith, Mitchell Pimentel,
Tyson Stocker and Trevor
Wilson.
All six will compete in
the individual portion of the
event Saturday. All but Wil-
son will compete in the team
event Friday.
Hermiston had 22 shoot-
ers qualify for nationals with
their average, but coach
Slade Smith said they aren’t
quite ready for the competi-
tion they will face.
“Last year, the cut off to
make fi nals was 95 or 96,”
Smith said. “They aren’t in
a position yet to give them-
selves a legitimate chance to
make the fi nals.”
Last year’s fi nals saw a
handful of shooters hit all
100 targets in the prelims,
and all 100 in the fi nals,
forcing a shoot-off.
The Bulldogs took a team
to nationals last year, placing
seventh. They were ranked
No. 1 going into the fi nals.
“They weren’t satisfi ed
with that,” Smith said. “It
takes a couple of special
days to win it. These kids
shoot a lot more trap than a
lot of kids, and that’s import-
ant. I think they are very
prepared.”
How it works
The shooters in the indi-
vidual portion of the tour-
nament had to qualify with
their average attained during
Practice makes perfect
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
The Hermiston High School trapshooters nationals team (left to right) Tyson Stocker, alternate
Trevor Wilson, Mitchell Pimentel, coach Slade Smith, Kaden Smith, Thomas Mabbott and
Haylee Hamilton pose for a portrait at the Hermiston Gun Club.
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Tyson Stocker shoots at a clay target during a Monday night
practice. The Hermiston High School trapshooters compete
at the national tournament in Mason, Michigan, this week.
the six shoots during the reg-
ular season. They had to par-
ticipate in every shoot.
There is no distinction
between boys and girls, or
wheelchair athletes. Every-
one shoots from 16 yards.
“Wheelchair
athletes
compete with the able-bod-
ied kids,” Smith said.
“Everyone is the same.
There is a lot of diversity.
This is a sport kids can come
out for who aren’t cut out for
other sports.”
There will be approxi-
mately 180 teams and 2,000
individual shooters from
around the nation at the
event. The top 80 teams and
top 1,800 individuals will
advance to the fi nals.
Each shooter brings their
own gun (the Hermiston ath-
letes all shoot a Browning
trap shotgun) to nationals.
Teams let the tournament
know what ammunition they
would like, and it’s there
when they arrive.
The guns are put on the
plane with the other lug-
gage. Each gun has to be in a
locked gun case and receive
a special sticker.
Hermiston will have a
practice round Wednes-
day at MTA Homegrounds
(tournament facility), then
will have team activities
Thursday.
Hermiston will compete
in the fi rst fl ight of the team
shoot at 8 a.m. Friday (50
shots per athlete), with the
second fl ight at 11 a.m.
Individual prelims are
Saturday, with fi nals for
both Sunday. Prelim and
fi nals scores are combined.
“One target makes a dif-
ference,” coach Smith said.
“They shoot their average,
they can be top 10 in the
nation.”
Mabbott has the high
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average on the team at 24.25
out of 25. Hamilton fol-
lows at 24.12, with Smith,
Stocker and Pimentel all at
24.
Mabbott, Kaden Smith
and Stocker were on the
team that competed last
year, while Wilson joined
them in the individual event.
“We’ve got a couple of
kids who have been there
and are comfortable,” coach
Smith said.
Mabbott, a recent Herm-
iston graduate, admits he
is more calm heading to
nationals than he was last
year.
“I was nervous last
year,” he said. “After the
fi rst round, we were sitting
fi rst, then it all sank in. We
fi nished seventh, which is
something to be proud of,
but we were disappointed at
the same time.”
While there are different
people on the team this year,
Mabbott is confi dent.
“Our team is look-
ing good,” he said. “It’s all
about your mindset. You
have to watch what you say
While Hamilton has only
been shooting for two years,
most of the guys on the
team have been shooting for
many more.
“Some people pick it up
pretty quick,” Mabbott said.
“I was not one of them. I’ve
shot for a long time. I’ve
been shooting since seventh
grade, but didn’t get heavy
into it until my freshman
year. Tyson, Kaden and I
have been shooting together
for a long time. Kaden used
to shoot better than all of us
— it’s all in his head.”
Hamilton said her dad,
Derek, taught her to shoot.
“My dad is a very good
shot, and he’s taught me 90
percent of what I know,”
she said. “The guys are
extremely supportive. They
are by my side to make sure
I have everything I need. I
never feel left out.”
There’s still that one
burning question.
“I can beat my dad now,
any day of the week,” Ham-
ilton said.
It takes a village
The trap team is a club
sport, but it still receives
support from the school dis-
trict, which is covering lodg-
ing at nationals.
The Hermiston Gun
Club offers support, and the
team has a grant from the
Blue Mountain Chapter of
Friends of the NRA, which
supplies the ammo and tar-
gets for the team.
There also are private
donors, and the team has
gotten support from the high
school booster club.
Local athletes
compete in
Youth League
Championship
HERMISTON HERALD
Some of the area’s top
young track athletes put
their talents on display at the
TrackTown Youth League
Championship on Satur-
day at Lane Community
College.
Hermiston’s
Alyssa
Thomas fi nished second in
the girls 7-8 turbo javelin
with a toss of 43 feet, with
Aubrey Savage of Hermis-
ton third (39-0).
Umatilla’s Emily Sali-
nas was third in the girls
9-10 100 meters in a time of
14.91 seconds. The winner
was Abigail Sondag of Rich-
land (14.20).
Other girls placing in the
top 10 include Avery Bock-
ert of Milton-Freewater in
the 100 (7-8, 4th, 16.52);
Samantha Lamb of Irrigon
in the 100 (7-8, 9th, 17.10);
Mia Rose Garcilazo of Uma-
tilla in the 100 (11-12, 7th,
14.81); and McKenzie Shel-
den of Pendleton in the 100
(11-12, 8th, 14.82).
Placing for the boys were
Chase Swanson of Herm-
iston in the 100 (7-8, 4th,
16.78); Camren McCann of
Stanfi eld in the turbo javelin
(13-14, 6th, 90-2); Easton
Berry of Athena in the long
jump (11-12, 7th, 13-6½);
and Marcos Cooper of Uma-
tilla in the turbo javelin (13-
14, 8th, 80-7).
Participants competed in
the 100 meters, 400 meters,
800 meters, 1,500 meters,
the turbo javelin and the
long jump.
The event was the cul-
mination of 15 free youth
track meets throughout
the state, including events
in La Grande, Hermiston
and Prairie City. More than
1,800 youth from through-
out the Northwest partici-
pated in the 2019 season.
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