GREAT FALLS — The Montana State Shoot Scholastic Clay Target Program held its competition right outside of Great Falls, at the Great Falls Shooting Complex on Saturday.
Team and youth from towns ranging from Libby to Billings, and Helena to Joliet were present, competing in teams of four.
“Nobody's benched in this sport. Everybody gets to play,” says VP of the Scholastic Clay Target Program, Mike Cirian.
The Scholastic Clay Target Program is a nationwide program aimed at providing children with access to both trap and skeet shooting opportunities. To date there are over 4,000 shotgun enrollees and thousands of pistol entries.
Tucker Carpenter, shooting for the final time at the youth level, is making his way to Hastings, Nebraska next year where he will compete in skeet at the collegiate level. He has been to the National youth competition four times in the last five years.
“Being able to go do something I love and have fun doing it. And it paying for college I think is pretty cool,” says Carpenter.
On Saturday, at his final State Shoot, Carpenter shot a total score of 98.
Head Coach of the Libby Rock Crushers, Mike Cirian, loves to mentor youth, helping them to develop shooting and people skills.
“A lot of them don't know each other. They barely know each other in school. But they get out here and not only do they become a team, they kind of become a little family. They're a bunch of brothers and sisters out here. They pick on each other and they start razzing each other. I got you here. You got me there,” says Cirian.
Cirian hopes to continue to foster the lineage of young shooters.
“I want to see this sport survive. You know, it's really important to me and and to these guys and just to the American way of life,” he says.
To view the results from the State Shoot go to https://mysctp.com and click results.
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