Two members of the Botetourt 4-H Shooting Education Club scored well enough in the Virginia 4-H State Shotgun Championship this fall to be invited to participate on the state development team.
The 10 members of the development team practice and compete for the four spots on the state team that will participate in the national 4-H shotgun competition next June.
Isaac Chitwood and Jessie Wilhelm placed eighth and 13th, respectively, in the Senior Division of the state shotgun championship held at Brushy Mountain Gun Club near Gretna.
Wilhelm also had the top ladies’ score in the competition.
As a team, Botetourt’s five senior members finished fifth.
Chitwood shot a 175 total out of a possible 200. Wilhelm’s 164 was one broken clay better than the second place score in the ladies’ division.
The Senior Division shotgun championship consists of shooting three rounds of skeet (75 targets), two rounds of trap (50 targets) and one round (75 targets) of sporting clays.
Chitwood scored a 66 in skeet, 45 in trap (including his first perfect round) and 64 in sporting clays. There were only four perfect rounds of 25 in trap among the more than 60 senior shotgunners.
Wilhelm scored a 66 in skeet, a 43 in trap and a 55 in sporting clays.
Jacob VanNess finished 20th overall with a 160. He scored 60 in skeet, 41 in trap and 59 in trap. Seth Cahill scored 150 overall with a 59 in skeet, 43 in trap and 48 in sporting clays. Lauren Hoffman finished with a 129 with a 49 in skeet, 32 in trap and 48 in sporting clays.
Tripp Smith of Powhatan had the high overall score with a 191. The Powhatan team also finished first with a 711 total for their top four shotgunners.
