Trap team headed to State competition

IMLAY CITY — Your Imlay City Spartan Clay Target Trap Team is the TOP TEAM in the 1A Conference 1 of the MSHSCTL.

The first year Trap Team is made up of all Junior High guns and one Senior gun so the team won’t lose many guns next school year!

This is a huge accomplishment and first season Head Coach Todd Schoenherr takes it all in stride.

“This is a solid young team and if they continue showing good sportsmanship, encouraging each other to be better and stay together, there is no telling what they can accomplish!” he said.

They will be receiving their conference trophy at the Conference 1A State Championship Trap Shoot at Michigan Trap Association in Mason MI on Saturday, June 14, 2025.

In other competition news, the first ever blue Water Area Conference “PULL”verized Trap Invitational was held.

Lapeer County Sportsman’s Club hosted five of the six BWAC League schools with trap teams, Yale declined the invitation.

Teams from Algonac, Almont, Armada, Imlay City and Richmond braved the 30+ mph wind, spits of rain and temperatures that did not want to climb to compete against each other for the championship title.

Everyone had a great time despite the weather and demonstrated how this sport brings all kids together.

In fact, only two perfect scores of 25 were posted on the day and these were some of the best high school trap shooters in the nation.

Armada took home the overall trophy with a team score of 453. Anderson Barnette (Armada-94) was Top Gun, Joey Ternes (Armada-93) Reserve Gun and Nick Palombo (Richmond-92) was third place.

Imlay City (4th) succumbed to Algonac (3rd) in the team competition by 1 bird (383 IC to 384 Alg) which is an awesome showing for only having 7 trap shooters in the competition (10 spots available per team).

Richmond took the reserve team spot with a 447 and Almont took fifth with a 378.

Both Almont and Imlay City are first season trap teams and are showing great performances for such young teams.

Imlay City shooters were Zeke Kustowski, Sam Schoenherr, Jason Sefcovic, Samuel Prescott, Tegan Fryer, Jakob Schlaufman and Lyle Parcsh.

Almont competitors were Logan Campbell, Eli McConnell, Garrett Conger, Blake Boyer, Nick Bresinski, Jaxson Kozik, Emerson McConnell, Shane Roosa, Carson Cooper, Owen Charnesky and Zachary Throop.

Great job everyone at this inaugural event. A huge thank you goes out to Lapeer County Sportsman’s Club for hosting and they provided the ammunition for each shooter.

Thank you club members and Almont and Imlay City team members for volunteering at the event to ensure that everything ran smoothly.

Thanks too, to the LCSC Shotgun Committee for being willing to try this out.

The Imlay City Spartans Clay Target Team also met at Lapeer County Sportsman’s Club last month to raise funds for Wounded Warrior Project.

The team had a goal of $500 and greatly exceeded it, with nearly $2,000. The team raised a total of $1,860.50!!!

The coaches said they were proud of the team and great job to the team for supporting those who gave to support your Second Amendment rights.

The team also had Senior night and celebrated Zeke and Sam as they move on to college dreams.

The day was cold and dreary which seems to be a constant this Michigan spring. The good news was that the wind wasn’t nearly as strong as predicted. The skeet team was led by Senior Zeke Kustowski (40).

He was followed by Henry Schmidt (39), Sam Schoenherr (38), Mason Frank (34) and Landen Kipke (30) to place the top 5 squad scores. First season team member Max Moenaert also shot to help the cause for the wounded vets.

For the trap team, they had less drizzle but just as cold and dreary. The team was led by Capt. Senior, Sam Schoenherr (44). He was followed by Sam Prescott (40), Jason Sefcovic (37), Jakob Schlaufman (36) and Lyle Parsch (34) to post as the top 5 squad scores.

Tegan Fryer and Jake Brousseau, first season shooters, also shot to help wounded vets at the event.

This was the final conference week of the season and heading into this shoot the Imlay City Clay Target Team is in first place in the conference for Trap and Sam Schoenherr is tied for second in the conference individually.

Heading in to the final week of competition, the Spartan skeet team was currently in fifth place in the conference. The team will head to the State Meet in Mason for skeet on Friday, June 13 and for trap Saturday, June 14.

And finally, the Lapeer County Sportsman’s Club hosted another competition shoot for the MHSCTL. The team was lead by Capt. Sr., Sam Schoenherr with a 44 on the day. He was closely followed by Samuel Prescott (42) and Jason Sefcovic (40).

Jake Brousseau (38) posted the fourth score and Lyle Parsch (32). Jakob Schlaufman and Tegan Fryer rounded out the team.

All the scores were very consistent between rounds which is good for this young team and shows potential to raise the bar.

Congratulations to Imlay City’s squad that they have been invited to Nationals. They are a young team that has only been together for 3 seasons. They started last spring. This team is showing amazing potential.