Gun range supervisors watch for safety issues and give tips to clay-target shooters on the rare occasion members of the Clay Dusters school shooting team miss a target. (Photo by Tom Brudvig)
High School Clay Target League is a Growing Sport
Lanesboro Clay Dusters, formed in 2015
LANESBORO — The Lanesboro Gun Club is home of the Lanesboro Clay Duster Trap Team, currently ranked the top student trapshooting team in Class 2A in Minnesota. These middle and high school student athletes hone their skills and scores by shooting clay targets propelled from a “trap house” sixteen yards away at 45 miles-per-hour in unpredictable directions!
The Clay Dusters trailer promotes the team and houses donated supplies. (Photo by Tom Brudvig)
Trapshooting in Lanesboro and in Southeast Minnesota is not a one-off sport in 2025. The Clay Dusters have been around for 10 years and is currently among 350 high school teams in the state. Jennifer Roloff coaches the Clay Dusters, assisted by “range coaches” Jason Roloff and Seth Erickson.
In the southeast region, Minnesota State High School Clay Target League teams have also been formed in Mabel-Canton, Spring Grove, Spring Valley, Chatfield, Fillmore Central and other schools.
An interesting fact is that back in 2014 the Minnesota State High School Clay Target Tournament was the largest shooting event in the world. Presently the USA High School Clay Target League has 1,900 teams in 37 States.
Students must pass a gun safety course
Participation in trap shooting requires students to be eligible academically like other sports and pass a certified Minnesota firearms safety course. All participants need to wear both eye and hearing protection. Both boys and girls participate and can join the team at age 12.
The “Clay Dusters” currently have 26 students on its roster, including five young women. It just so happens that senior team member Holdyn Willford is one of the top ranked Clay Target shooters in the state. His success is a motivator and role model for others on the team.
Range coaches deliver last minute directions to the student shooters. (Photo by Tom Brudvig)
What is unique about “trap teams” is that you never see your competition until year-end tournaments in June. Scores and rankings of shooters are determined at the home shooting range and recorded in a statewide database.
Each week during the eight-week season, each team member will shoot fifty rounds from five different positions on the range. The final scores from the day are entered in the database by a team coach.
The shotguns are loaded by the students just before they shoot and not before. (Photo by Tom Brudvig)
At the May 4 shooting event at the Lanesboro Gun Club, Holdyn Willford hit fifty-out-of-fifty clay targets and several team members hit more than 45 targets without a miss.
The hand-eye coordination and concentration of each shooter is impressive. It likely helps their concentration that there are no cheerleaders or raucous fans at these “shoots.”
Team members are seated, waiting to shoot and keeping score for teammates, as friends and family look on. (Photo by Tom Brudvig)
Team members are active students
Who joins the trap teams? About half of Lanesboro’s members come from “hunting families” and the rest sign up because of friendship connections or family members who have historically been in a trap-shooting league.
Many on the Lanesboro team are also multi-activity students participating in activities such as golf, football, track and band.
A shooter says “pull” into a microphone in front of them which triggers the automatic thrower to release the clay target. (Photo by Tom Brudvig)
High school seniors Willford, Will Miller, Dayton Haugen, Taylor Hanson and junior Hailey Erickson said they joined trap shooting to enhance their shotgun skills, particularly for hunting purposes.
They also expressed that “trap” is a fun activity and valued the opportunity to be part of a team. That said, shooting is a solitary sport where results are immediately visible, and participants receive feedback from range coaches who oversee each session.
Support for the team is evident; successful fundraising by the Clay Dusters covers expenses for all the ammunition provided to the athletes for the season. The students pay a small fee to the Lanesboro Gun Club for the use of the range and clay targets, but all in all it’s a good deal for a high school sport where fees continue to skyrocket.
Finally, a big plus for the Lanesboro Clay Dusters is proximity to its home shooting range, just a few winding miles south of town, at the Lanesboro Gun Club — a pristine setting up against a tall cliff of rocks and trees.
Spectators sitting on the grass; the sound of shotguns doesn’t deter fans from enjoying the beauty of the environment. (Photo by Tom Brudvig)
Plenty of green grass and a gently sloping hill make it ideal for families and friends to watch the action and picnic at the same time. Their support may also be a reason why the Clay Dusters are so successful.
Learn more about this school sport, teams, seasons, tournaments and more on the Minnesota State High School Clay Target League website.
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Contributor
Tom Brudvig lives in Lanesboro and is active in the community as a volunteer for the Rhubarb Festival, Buffalo Bill Days and Lanesboro Arts.
