Libby hosts regional trap and skeet shoot

Rainy weather didn’t deter the members of the Libby Scholastic Clay Target Program from their regional competition Saturday. Libby’s shooters took the field with competitors from Flathead and Bigfork at the regional shoot, hosted at the Lincoln County Shooting Complex for the third consecutive year.

The college-level Flathead All-Stars took the top squad honors in this year’s competition, but Libby’s local boys finished well.

The Libby varsity team of Dameon Kelch, Roy Hyde and Colton Moore won the skeet and sporting clays, or five-stand, divisions.

The Libby intermediate team of Austin Rasmussen, Cyrus Sweedman and Isaac O’Rourke won out in all events for their division, capturing the overall division title.

Kelch was the high trap shooter, hitting 49 out of a possible 50 in the event.

Hyde and Moore ended up in a shoot-off against each other for the high skeet shooter title. Hyde defeated Moore to take the overall honors, leaving Moore as the varsity skeet champion.

Although the sport involves individual competition, Libby coach and event organizer Mike Cirian said it’s a unique sport, built more upon cooperation than competition.

“The one thing that is different about this sport is that, enough though it’s competitive, the experienced shooters really help the younger ones out,” he said. “Even though the young guys may be the ones replacing the older ones at the top in the next few years. It’s a very unifying sport.”

Cirian said 31 shooters competed in Saturday’s event, which was made possible by generous donations of time and money from several sources.

“We had about a dozen volunteers on-site all day,” Cirian said. “They made sure everything went according to plan. Also, we couldn’t pull this off without the Friends of the National Rifle Association. The grants they’ve given us helped build our facilities here.”