GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — Close to 700 4-H youth from around the country gathered in Grand Island, Neb., on June 26 to showcase their marksmanship skills at a week-long 4-H Shooting Sports and Wildlife National Championship.
Five participants from Beltrami County were selected to represent Minnesota through an application process after competing in the 2021 national tournament. The team joined 18 others from around the state, making up seven Minnesota discipline teams.
“4-H is a youth development program of the University of Minnesota Extension where ages ranging from kindergarten to one-year post-high school participate in hands-on learning experiences in STEM, citizenship, leadership, animal science, creative arts and much more,” a release said. “Through 4-H, youth obtain essential life skills such as problem-solving, decision making, coping and communicating that help them succeed in their school, college, community and career.”
Athletes from 39 states participated in nine disciplines including air pistol, air rifle, .22 pistol, .22 rifle, shotgun, muzzleloading, recurve archery, compound archery and wildlife skills. Each discipline's competition consisted of three different events over the course of the week-long competition.
To qualify for the national competition, participants needed to compete at the Minnesota 4-H Shooting Sports and Wildlife Invitational in the discipline they chose.
Beltrami County’s participant, Henry Sewall, competed with three other Minnesota youth to comprise the air rifle team. The three events for air rifle discipline include three-position, silhouette targets and slow fire targets. Overall, Sewall finished in the top half of all air rifle competitors.
Others included Kaytlin Haiby, Evan Langerak, Dalton Gjovik and Saige Gjovik, who comprised the air pistol team for Minnesota. The three events for air pistol discipline include rapid fire target, silhouette targets and slow fire targets. The team placed first in rapid fire, second in slow fire and third in silhouettes.
Overall, the Minnesota air pistol team placed second in the nation for all-around competition and the four air pistol youth had eight top 10 finishes between the three events.
The 2022 Minnesota 4-H Shooting Sports and Wildlife Invitational will take place Sept. 9-11 in Alexandria, Minn., as they hone their skills in practice and look forward to the upcoming competition in which they may qualify for next year's national championship.
According to the release, the Minnesota 4-H Shooting Sports and Wildlife Program began in the 1980s and has grown to over 5,000 4-H members and 900 trained adult leaders.
Adults can become certified discipline instructors by attending a weekend workshop and instructing youth in their county. To learn more about the Minnesota 4-H Shooting Sports and Wildlife Program, visit extension.umn.edu/projects-and-more/4-h-shooting-sports-project.