Twelve members of the Haines Hot Shots competed at a state clay shooting tournament in Anchorage in early June. Pictured from top left to bottom right: Corbin Wright, James Stickler, Jackson Long, Bear Scott, Alex Weerasinghe, Caleb Holm, Orion Grimes, Jonah Wray, McConnell Robinson, Loyal Tormey, Colton Combs, and Rowan Huff.
Two members of the Haines Hot Shots fired their way to the top four of their age brackets at a clay-shooting state championship in Anchorage two weeks ago.
Twelve boys competed across four age groups and seven disciplines at the tournament, which marked the first time the team traveled to state since before the pandemic. The dozen from Haines battled more than 75 shooters from around the state. Only three other teams from Southeast – Ketchikan, Petersburg and Sitka – competed at the tournament.
“We have a lot of really good shooters, and a lot of really good kids, and the trip was a whole lot of fun for everybody,” said Jim Stickler, who coached the group.
Stickler’s 14-year-old son, James, attended state for the third time and won a bronze medal in the intermediate age group’s trap-shooting contest. “It went pretty good I think,” he said. “I learned a lot about how important concentration is. … Just when you concentrate you do better.”
Alex Weerasinghe, who will be a high school sophomore in the fall, placed fourth in two disciplines – trap and wobble trap. Competing in the junior varsity division, he initially tied for third place in both contests but bumped down a post after tie-break shootouts.
“The difference between places can be like one or two clays,” said Susan Weerasinghe, Alex’s mother and one of the parents who attended the tournament. “It can be very close. Some of our kids were just outside. Everybody did perform very well.”
The Hot Shots practiced twice a week all spring at the Haines Sportsmen’s Association shooting range. They are equipped to practice only trap shooting here, but nonetheless competed in the four other categories – skeet, double skeet and two different kinds of sporting clays. Jim Stickler said the Haines shooting range is constructing a skeet range that could be ready by fall.
Trap involves firing at a clay “bird” launched from a single point. In skeet, clays fly from two stations. And in sporting clays, shooters move through a course from station to station, firing at clays moving in different directions.
James Stickler said sporting clays was his favorite event “because they’re different from everything else.”
Weerasinghe was one of three high school students on the team and said “for sure” he would like to attend state again next year. Jim Stickler said the team had a large class of eighth-grade students who will compete next year in the high school divisions.
“I think we have 18 to 20 kids on the team, and it gives them an opportunity to learn gun safety. It teaches them life lessons,” Jim Stickler said. “Handling guns on a daily basis you’ve got to have some serious discipline.”
Stickler also said the club gives members exposure to college recruiters and a chance to earn scholarships. The oldest member of the team – recent Haines graduate Caleb Holm – received a scholarship to shoot at Iowa’s William Penn University starting in the fall.YOU