Shooting the Breeze

Charles City trapshooters don’t let conditions get them off target

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

NASHUA — Rebecca Tierney says she likes to shoot in hot, sunny, no-wind conditions.

Well, the Thursday trapshoot meet that featured Osage and the hosting Charles City/Nashua-Plainfield was at least graced with sunshine. So one out of three is not bad.

Neither is 43 out of 50, which was what the Charles City senior shot to pace all female competitors.

“Really, I like to shoot in all weather,” Tierney said as some of her teammates guffawed at the statement.

They, like Tierney, had to shoot through blustery winds that gusted up to 25 miles an hour. But Tierney found an advantage.

“My group shot late, so I got to watch the birdies to see how they were reacting,” Tierney said.

Still, many major league baseball hitters have studied the wicked knuckleball of R.A. Dickey from the on-deck vantage and it usually didn’t do them much good.

“You’ve just got to get into a rhythm when it’s your turn to shoot,” Tierney said.

Tierney was a shot better than Nashua-Plainfield’s Marissa Fuerstenberg, and Osage’s Shelby Prochaska and Julie Ringhofer.

The three girls engaged in a shootout to determine their ultimate placings. Prochaska, Ringhofer and Fuerstenberg ending up second, third and fourth, respectively.

Tierney — with Luke Hillegas (46), Jacob Greenzwieg (43), Shau Laudt (42) and Dan Swartzrock (45) — helped the Charles City 1 squad take team honors with 211 points, besting runner-up Osage 4 by three shots.

Charles City senior Brenden Kvernevig wasn’t placed on the winning squad, but his 47-of-50 score earned him individual boys honors.

“I don’t like shooting in the wind, but I try not to let it bother me,” said Kvernevig, whose best 50-round score is a 49 achieved last season.

“I just try to relax,” he said.

Hillegas’s 46 score had him tied with Osage’s Jeff Morische and Adam Koch.

In a shootout from the 22-yard line, Morische  — who five days before at the same site won the Nashua Invitational with a perfect 50-of-50 round — seized the runner-up spot with Koch and Hillegas finishing third and fourth, respectively.

“I thought we shot well considering the conditions,” CC/N-P head coach Tim Laube said.

At Nashua Fish and Game Club

Top Individuals

BOYS — 1. Brenden Kvernevig (Charles City) 47, 2. Jeff Morische (Osage) 46, 3. Adam Koch (0) 46, 4. Luke Hillegas (CC) 46.*

GIRLS — 1. Rebecca Tierney (CC) 43, 2. Shelby Prochaska (O) 42, 3. Julia Ringhofer (O) 42, 4. Marrisa Fuerstenberg (Nashua-Plainfield) 42.*

* Placings determined by shootout.

Top Teams ­

1. CHARLES CITY 1 (211) — Dan Swartzrock 37, Jacob Greenzweig 43, Luke Hillegas 46, Rebecca Tierney 43, Shau Landt 42.

2. OSAGE 4 (208)

3. OSAGE 7 (199)

CHARLES CITY 2 (197) — Colby Gavitt 38, Bailee Bortz 38, Brenden Kvernevig 47, Carter West 34, Devin Alton 40.

CHARLES CITY 3 (181) ­ — Bryce Hamm 39, Evan Schmidtke 39, Ciana Sonberg 33, Dylan Bilharz 43, Jace Landt 27.

CC INDIVIDUALS — Kaleb Osier 32, Leo Trebbien 30, Levi Robbins 35, Noah Orthel 30.

NASHUA-PLAINFIELD (178) — Chaska Hunt 38, Marrisa Fuertenberg 42, Nick

Bucknell 41, Lane Leeroff 22, Tyler Lantz 35.

N-P INDIVIDUALS — Dominique Griffin 36, Bobby Gipple 20, Ashton Lamborg 35.