Southwestern Community College sports shooter Hunter Albers competed against 42 other shooters from across the country in the 2018 Eastern International Championships and USAS Qualifier on Feb. 24-25, 2018, in Fort Benning, GA.

Albers, a sophomore of Indianola, shot an 86 out of 125 targets in international bunker trap, to finish in 16th place.  Two former Southwestern sports shooters, Hunter Anderson and Trent Cheers, both now shooting for Grand View University, ended up 12th and 23rd respectively. 

According to Marc Roberg, Southwestern head sports shooting coach, bunker trap is a much more difficult sport than regular American trap. In bunker trap, there are three different traps throwing targets for each shooting station. The targets come out at a much faster speed, have sharper angles, and occur at differing heights. The shooter is limited to 7/8 ounce shells instead of the 1 1/8 ounce shells that are used in regular trap.

Roberg said due to the fact Albers had not shot bunker trap but maybe once or twice before this competition, what he accomplished was an amazing feat. 

"Hunter did a tremendous job and I am very proud of him," said Roberg.  "Our Southwestern grads from Grand View were impressive as well.  It was nice to see our Iowa shooters near the top."

Next up, Southwestern's sports shooting team will be competing in the ACUI Collegiate National Championships, held March 26-30, in San Antonio, TX.