For the first time ever, Northeast Range/Ely has qualified for the Minnesota State High School League’s state trapshooting competition.
Led by Ely’s Talan Hart, who won the overall championship and was first out of 900 shooters for the day, NER-Ely was one of three teams to move on from Tuesday’s event at Alexandria, which attracted shooters from Class 2A programs across Minnesota.
Hart, Kamryn Bregier-Beno, Amelia Sandy, Hunter Kosinski and Ryland Sandy will represent the team at the MSHSL event, slated for June 26 at Prior Lake.
“Amazing, a great showing by everyone,” said head coach Julie Huseby.
NER-Ely put up some impressive numbers at Alexandria, amid vast competition, with Bregier-Breno taking third among varsity females, and Amelia Sandy first among JV shooters, both female and overall.
Leading the way was Hart, who scored a 98 out of 100, had two perfect rounds of 25 and joined elite company - matching Lori Huseby (2016) and Noah Backe (2024) of NER-Ely in gaining firstplace finishes.
It came amid some windy conditions to start.
“I was actually surprised as we started out the morning with some fairly stiff northwest winds about 15 to 20 miles per hour,” said Huseby. “The birds were really tricky when we shot for the first time, but both Talan and Kamryn shot very well in the wind.”
Things only got better as the team moved into the afternoon session.
“By then the winds had abated a little bit, which was to our advantage,” said Huseby. “So our scores as a total team went up in the afternoon session.”
Bregier-Beno not only took third place among females, but she was sixth overall in a field of about 370 varsity shooters.
She also had a perfect 25 for the day, as did Kosinski.
Sandy’s score was 93, which put her at the top of the JV field, which included 290 shooters.
The performance in Alexandria followed the first conference title in 10 years for NER-Ely.
Conferences are determined by team size, not geography, so Ely won’t compete against nearby schools such as Mesabi East and Hibbing.
Other team members are Ari Hart, Laydan Hart, Sabrah Hart, Thomas Hway, Peyson Roseth, Carrington Kosinski, Wyatt Carlson, Hannah Ice, Henry Lenz, Jay Mattila, Blake Stalboerger, Garen Weisinger, Trynn Weisinger and Kylee Zobitz.
Trapshooting, also known as clay target, is termed an “emerging activity” by the Minnesota State High School League and brings a new opportunity to compete.
