Newark Rod and Gun Club hosted 76 students and eight school districts over Memorial Day weekend for the Finger Lakes Regional Trap Shooting Tournament.

At the end of a soggy and challenging five-hour Saturday spent chasing clays in blustery conditions, Red Jacket came away with their fourth-straight Finger Lakes Regional Championship.

The Cardinals downed 211 clays out of a possible 250; winning by just three marks over Midlakes. The Screaming Eagles club was second with 208.

Last year, Red Jacket won with 208 marks while Midlakes tallied 192, a solid 16-mark improvement for the Screaming Eagles.

The format of the tournament involves every student taking aim at 50 total targets, shooting at 25 targets in each of two rounds. Choosing from either a 12- or 20-gauge shotgun, each clay target hit is worth a single point. Every five targets, the pool of five students shifts to their right, changing their angle at the targets for an additional challenge. The swirling winds and rain made the clays that much more active; upper fields saw the clays soar in updrafts while the wind coming down the hill caused clays at the lower stations to drop erratically. At the end of each round, the scores of the top five shooters from each team are compiled for a total score. The scores from both rounds are then combined for the team’s final score.

Holland Benge finished atop the female standings, marking on 44 of 50 total targets for Marcus Whitman. Alyssa Minges, representing South Seneca, was next with 44 marks, and Elsie Foust (Whitman) was third (44).

Midlakes' Travis Guard was the top male, earning the top spot with 47 marks out of 50. Chase Atwood and Kullen Hill, each of Red Jacket, were next with 45 and 44 marks, respectively.

Next up, is the state tournament at Bridgeport Rod & Gun Club in Cicero, Onondaga County, on the weekend of June 5-7, where 190 schools will be vying for a state title.

All current League-registered student athletes and teams are invited to the State Championship. A team requires a minimum of five student athletes to participate in the team competition. All student athletes are eligible for the individual competition.

Each team is assigned a tournament day as determined by their class designation and will compete against others within their assigned Class. Teams and individuals will compete in their respective classifications (Novice, Junior Varsity, and Varsity) based on the athlete’s Spring season-ending average. An athlete’s 100-target score is used for both individual and team competitions.

The classes and divisions are based on the averages of how shooters perform throughout the year. Experienced target shooters who rarely miss a target will compete in the top division while shooters who may be in their first target-shooting season will compete against one another.