South Prairie trap shooting team strives to ‘be average,’ wins second-straight state title

MINOT, N.D. (KMOT) – South Prairie’s trap shooters say they want to be average.

“There’s a lot of pride amongst each other,” said coach Wayne Stanley.

The Royals went barrel to barrel with the state’s biggest schools and came out on top.

“I just tell them to shoot our averages. Don’t worry about anything else, let’s just be average. Do what we do and see where the chips fall,” said Stanley.

Shooters as young as sixth and seventh graders helped win the school’s second-straight state title.

“The youth getting involved in it is phenomenal. The numbers have gone up drastically and the competition has gone up incredibly too. It’s been awesome,” said Jorn Brose, a senior.

But what Connor Johnson did at state was anything but average.

“It’s kind of hard to explain. You have to come out and do it to see it for yourself,” said Connor, a junior.

Connor became the fourth Royal in school history to shoot a perfect 100.

“Everybody in the crowd was just (cheering) ‘we didn’t miss, we didn’t miss, we didn’t miss!’” said Stanley.

To keep his sights straight, Connor stays off sugar and caffeine for a few days leading up to competition

“Focus is a big part of the game,” said Connor.

So focused, that when the club’s dog Oakley tried to interrupt his interview with Your News Leader, Connor didn’t flinch.

“When you see a Connor or Jorn or Ben Lindbo shoot, you don’t know if they hit it or missed it. Their body language doesn’t change,” said Stanley.

The team finished 10th in the nation last season and hope to shoot even straighter this year.

“I’m stoked. Last year, so time to go out with a bang,” said Jorn.

Literally, a bang.

The Royals left Thursday morning to travel to Mason, Michigan, for the USA High School Clay Target League National Championship.

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