Sport shooting season is reaching its peak in Pilot Point, with the Bearcats shooting club setting its sights on the Texas Scholastic Clay Target Program State Championship in San Antonio June 12-15. The Bearcats’ 20-member shooting club will cap a strong season with seven representatives— Kaylen Stewart, Matthew Vincent, Isaias Navarro, Jackson Burgess, Gabriel Safar, Ashton Handsaker and Cole Krouskup—competing with the best shooters from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas.
“Four hundred or 500 kids, plus moms and dads—everybody will be there,” Bearcats shooting club coach Chris Krouskup said. “It's a huge event, and our shooters have to believe in themselves. They have to believe they can walk through that door and shoot, not just with Texas, but our entire district.”
Under the direction of Chris and the team’s second coach, Jason Handsaker, the Bearcat’s shooting club has taken major steps forward during its three years of existence, including setting a new club record of $8,000 from fundraisers this year.
“In the last two years, we've gone from being happy to show up and shoot to winning multiple medals,” Chris said. “… We started seeing the wins come in last year, and since then we’ve [won] five team trophies and another eight or nine individual awards. Then on top of that we’ve won buckles, which are the highest awards you can get as an individual shooter.”
One of the youngest buckle recipients, sixth grader Matthew Tristan, said he enjoyed his first year on the team.
“I like being out there, visiting with the other people, … but you have to stay focused,” he said. “You’re in a sport where you’re carrying around a sixpound shotgun on your shoulder for hours, [and] I’ve also learned patience, because you have to wait for the right time to shoot or you will most likely miss.”
One of the team’s most decorated members, Stewart, who graduated from Pilot Point High School this spring, said she’s also learned valuable life lessons from the sport and is hoping they’ll pay off in her second appearance at the state tournament.
“There were a lot of ups and downs, [but] it taught me to keep pushing and that the harder I work, the better I can do,” she said. “… My main goal in San Antonio is to place and get a medal, but I'm honestly just wanting to do better than I did last year, knowing I've had a year to improve.”
The Bearcats are scheduled to compete in the sporting clays, skeet and trap shooting categories at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio on June 12-13.
Live results will be posted during the event on the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation’s website, sssfonline.com.
