It is safe to say the South Prairie trapshooting team is on a roll.

This past Saturday at the Minot Gun Club, South Prairie won the Best in the West Tournament with a final score of 482. It was a hotly contested meet as runner-up Williston was three targets behind that pace at 479.

On May 21, South Prairie also won at the High Plains Invitational which took place in Horace. These victories at high-profile events, combined with a conference championship this season, gives trap coach Wayne Stanley confidence his club will put their best foot forward at the state tournament starting on June 18.

“I feel like if we can just stay on pace with our season averages, we will be able to compete for the state title,” Stanley tells The Minot Daily News. “It’s a rapidly growing sport within the state, so there will be plenty of top-notch competition to deal with.”

Heading into state, South Prairie boasts 11 all-state shooters with senior Tate Novodvorsky and freshman Connor Johnson among the team’s top performers. Individually, Novodvorsky and Johnson finished third and fourth, respectively, at the Best in the West. According to Stanley, their performance on Saturday was indicative of the consistency both shooters have displayed all season.

“Connor had a great season for us in the fall league, and that has been a definite plus because his confidence has carried over into the spring. Tate has all the experience in the world and came in sixth place at nationals in 2019. I’m expecting both of them to have great success at state.”

If South Prairie goes on to win in Horace, it would be the first state championship in program history. Since starting its trapshooting program in 2016, South Prairie finished as high as second at state and has earned second place or better in its conference all five years.

Making incremental improvements over the years to get to this point, Stanley credits the rapid rise of the South Prairie trap team to the spike in participation numbers. With 18 members in its first year, the trapshooting club had 67 students sign up to shoot this season.

In addition to the growing participation numbers, South Prairie has only three seniors and four juniors on this year’s team. The rest of the squad is comprised of students in their sophomore year or younger. Being that the core of the team is so young, Stanley is confident South Prairie’s trap team will continue to grow in the coming years.

“Part of the reason why we’ve been so successful has been the tremendous support from the parents. They help keep score each week and do whatever else needs to be done to keep this program going. It’s really been fun to be a part of,” Stanley adds.