Cougars Sports Shooters start season with split in triangular

The Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) Sports Shooting team started their season on Sept. 7 at the Turkey Valley Trap Range in Jackson Junction, Iowa. The Cougars hosted a triangular against Kirkwood and Indian Hills community colleges.

Their first weekend match came against Kirkwood, and the Cougars won with a score of 480-460.

NICC had five athletes place in the top six for female individuals: Taylor Reinhardt (99), Ashley Fischer (89), Dakota Lacina (88), Elizabeth Ward (87) and MacKenzie Wiest (54). For men's individuals, they tallied six in the top 10: Tristan Lewison (99), Colton Hruska (95), Kyle Larson (94), Colton Tollefsrud (93), Joel Schneider (88) and Holden Hockerman (86).

"For our first meet of the season," Ty Kenan, Cougar student-athlete, said, "it was exactly what we wanted in terms of weather and team turnout. We have a lot more people on our team, too, so I think we'll do great this year."

The second match of the day was against Indian Hills. While NICC still managed to put up as many points as they did against Kirkwood, Indian Hills managed just a couple more points, handing the Cougars a 482-480 loss.

Four Cougar athletes finished inside the top six for female individuals: Reinhardt (99), Fischer (89), Lacina (88) and Ward (87). Four men also finished inside the top 10 for male individuals: Lewison (99), Hruska (95), Larson (94) and Tollefsrud (93).

"We had an excellent outcome with our season opener versus Kirkwood and Indian Hills," Anthony Sisneros, head coach, said. "We still have room to grow by our next competition, and we'll be ready to put in the work necessary to get the job done by our next conference match."

"I couldn't be more excited to compete with this team," Taylor Reinhardt, top scoring female at the triangular, said. "What a great way to start the season."

NICC travels to the Ventura Gun Club in Ventura, Iowa, on Sept. 21 for their next matchup with the Waldorf University Warriors.