More than a decade ago, the USA High School Clay Target League was founded, and today it is one of the nation’s fastest growing high school sports.

Oregon joined the league three years ago, and in its first year, five teams from around the state participated. Last year, Crane Union High School (CUHS) formed a team, with head coach Connie Robbins, and the number of teams grew to 14. This year, 25 teams, divided into four conferences, competed in the Oregon High School Clay Target League.

The conferences are determined by the number of shooters a team has to compete. Conference One is for teams of five to 10 shooters, with top six shooters’ scores used for points; Conference Two, which includes Crane, Dufur, Echo, Pleasant Hill, Ukiah, Wallowa, and West Albany high schools,  is for teams of 11 to 15 shooters, with top nine shooters’ scores used for points; Conference Three is for teams of 16 to 20 shooters, with top 12 shooters’ scores used for points; and Conference Four is for teams of 20+ shooters, with top 18 shooters’ scores used for points.

Robbins said that to be a team, you must have at least five shooters that have passed a Hunter’s Safety Course or the USA clay target class in safe shooting, your school must give permission to allow the team, and you have to use a registered clay target field to be fair. Robbins added that the team is actually a “club” associated with CUHS, and not considered in the OSAA class of sports.

This year’s team is comprised of 12 shooters, nine from CUHS and three from Burns High School, and practices each Wednesday at the Burns Butte Shooting Range. Robbins stated that all students in high school are eligible to compete, but because it is viewed as an extra-curricular activity, grades have to be within school policy.

The competition is held during the spring sports season.

“We started shooting every other weekend in January to get ready for the Shamrock Shoot  on March 17, sponsored by the Eastern Oregon University (EOU) Trapshooting Club,” Robbins said. “Because one of our team member seniors went to EOU and was on the trapshooting team, we wanted to support that, and so we practiced to be ready for competition play, which has gotten us much farther in league play.”

League competition begins the first week of April, shooting once a week, with two weeks of competitive shooting. Robbins noted that the third week is reserved in case the weather doesn’t cooperate. Then there are five weeks of competition, that was completed at the end of May.

The CUHS team placed first in the conference this year and will receive a trophy at the State High School Clay Target Tournament June 23 in Hillsboro.

Team members and season averages (out of 25) are as follows:

Tanner Davis — 21.60

Randy Epling — 18.20

Katelyn Epling — 16.40

William Johnson (Burns) — 22.30

Wyatt Lasich (Silvies River Academy) — 20.90

Katelyn Lasich — 15.20

Ian Maupin (Burns) — 19.63

Cade Maupin (Burns) — 20.00

Casey Otley — 19.40

Levi Roath — 20.10

Dusty Sherburn — 19.75

Johnny Sword — 22.20

Robbins said all team members are registered to compete in the Hillsboro tournament on June 23.

Along with Robbins as head coach, assistant coaches are Perry Robbins, Ralph Steelman, John Copenhaver, Larry Whitney (also the Range Safety Officer), and Warren Clayton Johnson.