During halftime of the Feb.24 basketball games at Highland, the Junior Shooting Sports team was recognized and presented with their state championship rings. The Arkansas Youth Shooting Sports Program (YSS) is sponsored by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. It includes students from grades 5-12 and the competition consists of trapshooting single targets from the 16 yard-line. Squads from four Regions around the State compete in four separate Regional Tournaments. There are, on average, over 100 squads in each Region of Junior and Senior Teams, respectively. The top 16 squads from each region for both Junior and Senior, are invited back to the State Tournament with Juniors shooting on Friday and Senior son Saturday. Each day begins with 64 teams in a bracket, ranked 1-16 in each of the 4quadrants. The squads shoot in head-to-head matches, with the highest score out of 25 advancing to the next level. Highland’s Junior Squad members are Evan Lawrey, Cline Himschoot, Cole Boyer, Gavin Simers, and Izaac Hilton. The team successfully advanced through six rounds to remain undefeated, earning the title of Arkansas Junior High State Champions. New team members can still sign up through March 1.The team is usually limited to around 40 students. There are eight to ten open spots for this year’s team. Contact Dustin Rogers at 870-710-3300 to sign up or for more information.
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