Haywood Homeschool Sportsman's Club shoots to podium spot at state

May 6—In just their second year of existence, the Haywood Homeschool Sportsman's Club went to the state meet and came away with a third-place finish.

"For our second year as a team and our second year at state, we were happy with that third overall," said Haywood Homeschool Coach Roger Thomas.

Out of 232 teams that started the year in competition, just 30 made it to the state meet.

The Haywood Homeschool Sportsman's Club also finished third in the hunter skills test.

While it was a great performance, it's not everything the team was hunting for. They finished just nine points away from second place.

Thomas said if the team had hit one more clay during the shotgun competition, answered one more question correctly during the hunter skills test or shot just a bit better during rifle, the team would've jumped into that second-place spot.

"As sweet as third was, it was kind of bittersweet, because we knew we could have taken second relatively easily," Thomas said.

While the results speak for themselves, there's something the team is even more proud of.

After it was announced that the team had finished third, it was also announced that they had earned the Fred Rorrer Sportsmanship Award.

"We're super excited about that third-place finish, and that's quite an accomplishment, especially at the senior level, but we're almost more proud of that Fred Rorrer Sportsmanship Award," Thomas said.

That's been a focus of the team all year, regardless of how things are going on the range.

"Whether we win or whether we lose, we're going to do it in the right way," Thomas said.

Last year, the team competed at state, but struggled with the changes that come with the meet. They didn't know what to expect and were going in blind.

This year was different.

"We kind of knew what to expect. They weren't as nervous," Thomas said.

Now, with more experience, the team is ready to push for even more next year.

"I think for the kids that are coming back next year, it's like, 'Man, it was right there in our grasp.' It does give them a hunger to come back and do better next year," Thomas said.

Pisgah and Tuscola fight for good results

Both Pisgah and Tuscola were also competing in the state meet. Pisgah finished in 16th place.

"We fell short a little bit. They put a lot of time and effort, and I had a lot of kids come out this year," Pisgah Coach Nathan Edwards said.

Hunter Edwards was one of eighth hunters in the shotgun discipline with an initial perfect score that resulted in a shoot-off.

The team was up against some tough competition at the state meet.

"Every year, everybody's getting a little better and a little stronger," Edwards said.

And for some of the hunters, their minds were elsewhere during the competition.