Statesmen Sweep All Titles in Season Opener Win

Riverside--The Statesmen shotgun sports team picked up right where it left off last year with a season-opening win at the Coe Invitational last Saturday.

In an event that featured 200 Sporting Clays shots per individual, William Penn finished first out of three teams with a score of 887-for-1,000. The Statesmen took nine out of the top 10 High Overall Athlete scores.

Tanner Muff (Jr., Lincoln, Neb., Public Accounting) not only topped the navy and gold at 183-for-200, but the entire field to win HOA honors. He was the only athlete to shoot above 90-for-100 for each of the two courses that were used.

Dryden DeKoning (Sr., Newton, Iowa, Business Management) finished second with 179-for-200, while Trenton Giese (Fr., Muskego, Wis., Mechanical Engineering) and Noah Seeyle (Sr., Pella, Iowa, Industrial Technology) were right in the mix at 176-for-200 and 175-for-200, respectively.

Adison Sholes (Jr., Indianola, Iowa, Public Accounting) and Wyatt Kresser (So., Independence, Iowa, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management) tied at 174-for-200 to wrap up WPU's top five.

Holly Boeke (Sr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Biology) and Nikolle Kussatz (So., Leighton, Iowa, Biology) tied for the female HOA laurel at 155-for-200. A few days later, Kussatz claimed the title in a shutout.

"I am proud of how we handled ourselves for the first event of the year," Head Coach Colten Uitermarkt said. "Though some of the scores may not be where the athletes would have liked, we found some things to work on moving forward, but overall it was a strong start to the season."

Next Up: William Penn travels to Waukee Saturday and Sunday to compete in the Simpson Invitational.