Shooting straight for state

Members of the Walton County 4-H Shotgun Team celebrate their success at the 4-H State Championships, which were held down in Coastal Georgia at the end of May. Contributed photos

For the second year in a row, members of the Walton County 4-H shotgun team will get to compete in the 4-H Shooting Sports National Championships in Grand Island, Nebraska. This year’s event will be held from June 21-26.

There will be a strong local contingent at the national meet, and that’s because of how well the group did at the 4-H State Championships in Forest City near Savannah last month. Of 30 possible medals, county athletes claimed 23 of them.

“Someone once told me this gets old. Well, I will have to tell them it hasn’t,” Ashley Weaver, one of the team’s coaches said after winning back-to-back trophies. “We have an amazing group of kids and families, and we love the ride.

“It’s rare to have this much depth on a team, and we are getting there,” Weaver added. “A lot of personal bests this weekend and even more fun.”

In the junior division, Xavier Trask was the highest overall scorer after winning the trap and sporting events, and finishing second in the skeet event.

Teammate Devyn Stephens was runner-up to Trask for highest overall junior scorer after winning the skeet event and coming in second in the trap event.

Other junior participants to podium included Joe Carter Cheney, who finished second in the sporting event and third in the skeet, and Bennett Baker, who made the podium in the sporting event after winning a shootoff.

In the senior division, Dakato Stephens was the highest overall scorer, subsequently followed by teammates Trevor Edwards and Conner Mitchell, who were runner-up and third overall, respectively.

Stephens placed in all three events, finishing second in the skeet and sporting while finishing third in the trap. Mitchell was able to beat him in a shootoff to claim the top spot in the skeet event.

Edwards also won the sporting event, beating out Stephens and Jack Stokowski, who got third.

The following teams were also recognized for their performances as a group:

Senior HOA Team

Damian Villanueva

Conner Mitchell

Josh Crawford

Noah Daniel

Senior Runner-Up HOA Team

Trevor Edwards

Emily Cowan

John Cooke

Brayden Spano

Junior HOA Team

Xavier Trask

Devyn Stephens

Joe Carter Cheney

Charlie Pittman

Junior Third-Place HOA Team

David Villanueva

Jayce Gamblin

Bennett Baker

Kasen Payne