BY JESSALYN KIRCHHOFF
GRAPHIC BY ALYXIUS TORRES
In true Tiger spirit, the FHSU Shooting Sports Team was built upon the shared idea from a group of students that wanted to do more at Fort Hays State University than just go to their classes everyday. In the summer of 2005, these students began their journey by writing the constitution for what would become the FHSU Shooting Sports team.
In the Fall Semester of 2005 with newly written constitution in-hand, six individuals approached Duane Shepherd with the intention of starting a new organization on campus. These individuals wanted to create a team that would compete in collegiate shotgun shooting sports.
From there, the first ‘meet’ for the team was a National tournament held in March of the 2006 Spring Semester.
Now, almost 17 years, eight National Championships, 11 Conference titles, and 15 All-American shooters later, the FHSU Shooting Sports team is much more than an idea. It is a legacy.
President of the FHSU Shooting Team, Lane Sorensen, says there are no true requirements to join the team.
“The qualifications to join the shooting team are minimal. We support a ‘walk on’ program. Anyone can join the team if they are interested,” Sorensen said. “As far as ‘recruitment’ goes, most of these students search us out and want to come to Fort Hays. Recently, in the last couple of years we have been sending students to youth shooting events and competitions in the summer.”
Katie Dettmann, secretary for the team, describes a typical meet day as never the same, but says there is a pattern that the competitions follow.
“The day will start out with a safety meeting and some instructions or information that the shooters or coaches need to know about,” Dettmann said. “After that initial meeting, we will then meet as a team and have our own meeting to discuss what the shoot times are and where each person needs to be at which certain times. After the team has their meeting, everyone will put their guns together to get ready to go and compete for the day.”
She continues saying most of the time, the team shoots an event and then eats a lunch prepared by the parents. The team then goes to another event.
“Typically, we will only shoot two events a day,” Dettmann said.
Dettmann describes her favorite memory as having an undefeated season in the fall semester of 2018 and the spring semester of 2019.
“It was a huge accomplishment,” she said.
Sorensen details a day in which the team got rained on during a skeet shooting event at the 2021 Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) Nationals.
“I mean, there was no good way of hiding, running or getting away from it. We had to shoot 100 targets in the rain,” he said. “I remember looking at my squadmates smiling from ear to ear laughing and having a great time. There’s simply no better way to test yourself than to shoot in heavy rain, completely soaked, and surrounded by cold conditions outside.”
Even with the less than ideal circumstances, Sorensen recounts the team being victorious.
“Our squad did go on and shoot very well, shooting a 494/500 in the conditions. Just being there to experience it was amazing, and then, after that, we went on to win that National shoot,” he said.
Both Dettmann and Sorensen agree it is important for students to get involved with whichever club, organization, or group piques their interest.
“I believe it to be extremely important to be involved on campus,” Dettmann said. “As a student, being involved gives you the opportunity to meet new people and gives you the opportunity to meet your lifelong friends.”
Sorensen agrees with Dettmann.
“The friends you meet in college are not like hometown highschool friends,” he said. “Everything about it is different, a different friendship and a different situation. My closest friends I have now I met here at FHSU and I consider them family. They really are friendships that will last a lifetime.”
Together, the teammates revel in their club’s successes and thank everyone that has contributed to those accomplishments.
“Throughout all the years, the team’s success that we have received can be accredited to the people that have the drive to win and sacrifice whatever is necessary to do so,” Sorensen said With that being said, we both would like to extend all of our teammates’ gratitude and to thank Fort Hays State University, the professors, and everyone in between for the support over the years.”
“The success we have is because of the support we get from everyone and we are very grateful for that,” Dettmann said.
The FHSU Shooting Sports team has ‘club night’ at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday nights every week (weather permitting). The team also has their home shoot coming up on Saturday starting at 9:00 a.m. at Lasada Lodge in Russell. They encourage anyone who is interested in the team, or who would like to join their support system, to come out and watch the shoot.
More information on the FHSU Shooting Sports team can be found on their Tigerlink at https://tigerlink.fhsu.edu/organization/shootingsports or on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057319605628