Hannah Brewers shoots her way to nationals

For the second straight year, Hannah Brewers was the only member of the Trapshooting team from Minneota to qualify for the Trapshooting Nationals on Saturday in Mason, Michigan. The senior-to-be didn’t shoot as well as she would have liked, connecting on 79 of 100 clay targets, but just qualifying for the national competition against 1,800 other boys and girls is rewarding enough. “I shot 86 out of 100 last year,” she said.

“I didn’t make it to the finals, but did the best I had ever done. This year was a whole different story. I did not do as well and did not qualify for finals.”

Brewers was a standout during the season, averaging 21.8 hits out of 25 clays, leading to her placing first in the conference for females.

“Trap is ran totally different (than other sports conferences) in that they put you in a class,” said Brewers. “Minneota is 2A and then they split us into different conferences. It does not matter of your location. They just randomly select teams.”

She also placed third in the state championships this season in Alexandria, hitting 93 of 100 clays to place third in the female varsity competition and earned a medal.

Brewers’ shooting prowess during the season’s competitions also enabled her to qualify for Tier I in the national competition at the Michigan Trapshooting Association in Mason. Those competing in Tier I had to amass an average of 21-and-over (out of 25) during the spring season.

Tier II were those averaging 19-and-over, while Tier III was for those with a 15-plus average.

“There are 44 trap houses there, which is a lot,” Brewers said. Although she was the lone Minneota shooter, Brewers noted that there were some members of the Lakeview team there that she knew. Nationals began with two days of practice on July 10 and 11, followed by qualification rounds on July 12.

Brewers has been on the Minneota Trapshooting team since eighth grade. “I had been shooting archery for the 4-H Sharp Shooters Club,” she said.

“And all of the others kids in the club were shooting trap.” “Some kids from the club convinced me to get a shot gun and try trap shooting. I fell in love with it and like it better than archery.”

But Brewers had shot a gun prior to joining the trap team. “I got my gun safety training when I was old enough,” she explained. “After that, my uncle, Cory Magnuson, would take me deer hunting, which I still do.” “But before that I had never shot trap or anything that flies.”

She sure turned into a quick learner.