AMES, Iowa – Sixteen Iowa 4-H youth have qualified to compete alongside 700 4-H youth from 36 states in the 2017 4-H Shooting Sports National Championships, hosted by the University of Nebraska Lincoln and Nebraska 4-H. The competition will take place June 25 to 30 at the Heartland Public Shooting Park near Alda and the Heartland Events Center in Grand Island.
The 4-H Shooting Sports National Championships is a free event, and open to the public. Youth ages 14-18 will compete in 27 events across nine disciplines including compound archery, recurve archery, air rifle, air pistol, .22 rifle, .22 pistol, shotgun, muzzleloading and hunting skills.
Shooting sports have been a part of the 4-H Youth Development program since the 1930s. The 4-H Safety and Education in Shooting Sports program uses the skills and disciplines of shooting to assist young people in developing life skills, and promotes the highest standards of safety and sportsmanship.
“Iowa 4-H Shooting Sports is proud to have a team of 16 youth participating in the National Championship. They have worked very hard to get to this point,” said Jacki Luckstead, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach youth program specialist.
Fifty-four national 4-H champions, both individuals and teams, will be named. Eighteen hundred participants, coaches and families will be in attendance.
Iowa participants include the following:
- Air rifle team -- Grant Goering (Lucas County), Mackenzie Howard (Decatur County) and Clayton Smith (Decatur County) with coach Roy Silhanek (Tama County)
- Archery compound team -- Jason Enerson (Emmet County) and Ian Gobeli (Hancock County) with coach Dave Anderson (Webster County)
- Archery recurve team -- Joel Anderson (Webster County), Maddy Christensen (Webster County) and Matt Ross (Webster County) with coach Troy Harris (Webster County)
- Muzzleloader team -- Eric Keller (Tama County) with coach Ryan Keller (Tama County)
- Shotgun team -- Jarrett DeKoning (Poweshiek County), Kolton Kopseiker (Wapello County), Andy McMullen (Wapello County) and Sloan Volkman (Poweshiek County), with coach Glenn Volkman (Poweshiek County)
- .22 rifle team -- Hannah Bothne (Humboldt County), Jesse Coon (Pocahontas County) and Lane Moore (Decatur County) with coach Les Bacon (Humboldt County)
Jacki Luckstead is the Iowa team coordinator.
Contact: Jacki Luckstead, 4-H Youth Program Specialist, 319-480-4343, luckstea@iastate.edu