Five Johnson County 4-H Shooting Sports members went to Grand Island, Nebraska this summer, competing in the 4-H Shooting Sports National Championships. Members and teams representing nine disciplines competed against each other as individuals and as partof their state teams. Teams of up to four members from Kansas were picked from top placing individuals at Kansas 4-H State Shooting Sports matches. Individuals may only participate in an individual discipline once at Nationals during their 4-H career. Awards were presentedfor each of three days of competition and overall discipline winners.

Landon Pierce placed 1st, Becca Adair placed 3rd, and Evan Kozlowski competed in Smallbore Pistol. Kansas Smallbore Pistol team placed 1st overall and was coached bySara Eccles. Abby Lawrenz placed 4th in Muzzleloader, and the Kansas Muzzleloader team placed 4th overall. Natalie Gulick competed in Recurve Archery, and the Kansas Recurve Archery team was coached by Arn Eccles. For the first time ever, the combinedKansas teams won the Sweepstakes Trophy, which recognizes the state with the highest collective team ranking. It is a huge traveling trophy that team Kansas hopes to show off at some events. Kansas won the award against 39 states and 691 competitors.

Johnson County 4-H Shooting Sports members worked hard to practice and prepare for Nationals after succeeding at their state match events. Congratulations to these Johnson County 4-H members for representing Kansas extremelywell.

Johnson County 4-H members represented in a national shooting competition.Pictured left to right:Landon Pierce, Evan Kozlowski, Becca Adair, Abby Lawrenz and Natalie Gulick.