With the high school trap season kicking off, excitement builds as the school introduces a new skeet team led by two new highly experienced coaches ready to guide the athletes. The experienced shooters are looking to make a great foundation to start the season with high scores, while the new shooters are eager to get to the range to see what trap and skeet hold in store for them.

While the trap and skeet season may not start when the rest of the spring sports start, the season is just as long. The Minnesota Trap Shooting Championship concludes the high school trap season on June 17, and the Minnesota Skeet Shooting Championship concludes the high school skeet season on June 26. The practice for shooters consists of shooting on Mondays or Wednesdays in the evening. During those nights, a squad (team of 5) will shoot two rounds of skeet and trap, depending on if they are signed up for both.

The new head Coach, James Arndt, isn’t new to the range. He has been a part of the Sioux Valley Gun Club for 44 years where he has served as president of the board for 8 years. Coach Arndt was more excited about the new opportunity for the skeet team than many of the shooters. “A skeet team is something I have wanted to do for years because other schools have a team and it gets our kids to be better shooters,” said Arndt. “We are going to start the season off focusing on safety rules and the basics. After that, everything should fall into place.”

“I am excited to try something new and see where this opportunity takes me,” said Junior Tilken Fruhwirth. With 4 years of experience on the New Ulm High School Trap Team, Tilken has built many relationships with members at the range. Looking ahead he shares how proud he is to represent the range and the school: “I’m excited the school is offering a skeet team because skeet and trap shooting is a lifetime sport so after high school I hope to get involved on adult level teams.”