SMS trap team takes on Nationals and Emily Ferguson wins big

By Phoebe Lusk-Hussong

While the majority of the school was procrastinating on summer reading, our trap team was breaking records at nationals. ​

Emily Ferguson (12), the first female recipient of the Jeanette Rudy Cup.

Most school sports take a break from competitions in the summer but not our amazing trap team! From July 18 to July 20, the St. Mary’s trap team was in Marengo, Ohio shooting at the 2019 Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) and Scholastic Action Shooting Program (SASP) National Championships. There were about 2,000 students competing from all over the country. There were even 7 year olds shooting! “They had a whole squad! It was so cute,” says Emily Ferguson (12). Even with so many talented shooters at nationals, our St. Mary’s team broke multiple school and personal records. 

The JV team went to nationals for the first time and scored 805/1,000 which placed them 27th out of 38. The JV team consisted only of five sophomores, Amelia Quinlen, Mary Morrow, Abby Neal, Shea Kiersky and Regan Lewis. Amelia Quinlen was the top shooter from the JV team with a score of 171/200. The Varsity team (also known as “the turkey squad”) , who consisted of Sophie Morrow and Emily Richards (2019), Emily Ferguson (12), Ashely Graflund and Saanya Srivastava (10), scored 946/1,000, beating the last school record by 40 targets. They also shot 16 boxes of shells without missing a target. Overall, they placed 17th out of 119 coed teams from around the country. 

Emily Ferguson beat both a personal and a school record by shooting 199/200. She ran a 119 straight which beats her personal record, and she placed third out of all female shooters in the country. You might be asking how Emily shoots so well. “I have been told I go into a trance-like state when I am shooting,” explains Emily. “I get so concentrated that nothing else exists.” Not only did she beat records, she also received the Jeanette Rudy Cup which is given to the top shooter, male or female, from Tennessee every year. The award was founded in 2005, and Emily is the first woman to have her name on the cup!
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Not only is our trap team one of the top teams in the country, it is also the largest all female teams in the country based on the size of the team in comparison to the size of our high school. Our hard-working trap team is taking a much needed break and will begin competitions again in January.