From Staff Reports

SAVANNAH, GA – The Southland Academy Varsity Clay Target team competed in the Georgia Independent School Association (GISA) State Tournament Friday and Saturday, November 22-23, 2019 at the Forest City Gun Club in Savannah.

This was the third year the Raiders have competed in the sport of Clay Target. Each team member must compete in three GISA qualifying events to compete in the state tournament. All of the Southland shooters qualified to compete in the state tournament. That was an impressive feat being that many of the shooters are also involved in other varsity sports such as softball, football, and band.

The varsity team competed in three disciplines: Skeet, Trap and Sporting Clays, shooting a total of 300 rounds over two days of competition. The Raider team finished 16th among GISA schools competing. The Gatewood School won the competition, while Pinewood Christian finished second and Windsor Academy finished in third place. There were a total of 369 Varsity shooters competing in the tournament, with 183 from GISA member schools. There were 186 shooters from private schools that compete in the GISA.

This is Haleigh Warren competing in the Clay Target State Tournament.
Photo by Sherri Bass

The Shooting Raiders competed very well over the two days, with some shooters turning in personal bests in some individual disciplines and personal bests in overall scores. The top finisher for the Raiders was junior Jack Stapleton. The second and third place finishers for the Raiders were seniors Tanner Pritchett and Will Perry. Both were first year shooters for the Raiders. Rounding out the top five were junior Blake Goodin and sophomore Brock Gurley. All five of these shooters finished the competition with greater than 200 points for the tournament.

Kendall Warren, the sister of Haleigh Warren, is seen here competing in the Clay Target State Tournament for Southland Academy.
Photo by Sherri Bass

Here are the members of the Southland Academy Varsity Clay Target Team:

Seniors: Will Perry and Tanner Pritchett

Juniors: Jack Stapleton, Blake Goodin, Ben Cook, Collins Bass and Haleigh Warren Sophomores: Brock Gurley and Lily Chapman and Freshman Kendall Warren.

This is the Southland Academy Junior Varsity Clay Target Team.
Left to right: Zack Cook, Chase Chapman, Grady Young, Tom Hart, Harper Hagerson and Jay Stanfield.
Photo by Sherri Bass

The Junior Varsity Clay Target Team competed at the State Tournament on Thursday, November 21, 2019 at Forest City Gun Club. There were a total of 113 JV shooters in the competition. The JV shooters compete in three disciplines: Skeet, trap and Sporting Clays with a total of 200 rounds for the tournament.

The JV team finished in fifth place among the GISA schools. The top JV shooter for Southland Academy was eighth grader Tom Hart. Eighth grader Grady Young finished in second place and eighth grader Chase Chapman finished in third place to round out the top three. Hart finished in the top 25 of the JV shooters for the tournament.