Bishop Carroll’s clay target team continues to aim high

The Bishop Carroll Catholic High School clay target team heads into the 2025-26 school year after enjoying notable success in the USA Clay Target League, through which it competes in the shooting disciplines of trap, skeet, sporting clays and five-stand. The team’s victories at the state level have led to national notoriety within the sport during recent years. In the 2025 state competition, Carroll finished first in trap, first in sporting clays, second in skeet, and second in five-stand.  

“The past couple of seasons we have either won first or second in the state, but we were hoping to win all four this year,” Coach Rob Adams said. 

He goes on to explain that the program rose to its elite level of achievement through a confluence of factors. “We caught lightning in a bottle, from the BC administration, volunteer coaches, parents, to the students and past benefit event sponsors and attendees,” he said. “Everyone has played a part to get us where we are now.”

Adams, who serves as the trap coach alongside skeet coaches Tony Goebel and Shawn Hoebener and sporting clays coach Mark Esfeld, notes that the program is garnering national recognition. He cites the example of encountering a team from Wisconsin during BC’s trip to Mason, Michigan, for the High Schools Nationals Tournament, where 240 qualifying teams and 1,800 individuals were pared down to an ensuing championship round of 80 teams and 400 individuals.

“Another team saw our logo, immediately recognized us, and said ‘You are from Bishop Carroll, we have been following you, you are the team to beat in this tournament.’” 

Although Carroll finished near the top in 2025 as it had in the preceding two years, Adams noted, a championship was not to be. in 2023, BC finished sixth in the national tournament by shooting 484/500. In 2024, the BC team again shot 484/500, which was good enough for fourth. 

“It was heartbreaking to see the disappointment from our kids, we felt we could be number one this year, after leading the nation in state scores with a 493/500.  Shooting a 491/500 this year at nationals, finishing sixth and not getting a medal is tough,” Adams said. “Any other year we would have won the title, but there were a lot of great scores this year. A 491 is still an accomplishment to be proud of.”

That consistent excellence extends back several years, he adds. “Normally, schools enjoy a peak year and then drop off when graduating seniors leave; we keep going,” Adams said. “This was our first year winning trap state.  Our team had a group of 14 graduating seniors who are great in every way, from their personalities, to team-building, to their skill levels.”

But that commitment to consistency extends through all aspects of the BC clay target team, Adams reports, including its members’ commitment to keeping holy the Lord’s Day, even when traveling. The team was dismayed to find that none of the weekend Mass times in Mason harmonized with the team’s schedule during the 2024 tournament. Therefore, the team took steps to prevent a recurrence.

“Coach Esfeld reached out to St. James Parish in Mason and it graciously hosted a special Mass for us,” Adams said. “We let the other Catholic schools at the tournament know about it as well.”

Moreover, he adds, taking the extra step to meet its Sunday obligation allowed the team to make the acquaintance of a fellow BCCHS alumnus in Mason. 

“He is a St. James parishioner who offered to help his church for this special Mass for traveling teams,” Adams said. “As one of our students went back in preparation to be an altar server, he asked our student ‘Where are you from?’ Our student said Bishop Carroll in Wichita, Kansas, and the shocked guy replied that he graduated from there. It turns out he was in the same class as the altar server’s father, who was on the trip with us as well. It was truly a great experience for us all.”

The necessary focus

Kapaun Mt. Carmel also has a clay target team, but none of the other Wichita City League Schools compete in the sport. Instead of falling under the purview of the Kansas State High School Athletic Association, Carroll and KMC fall under the USA Clay Target League, which has close to 150 teams in the state and more than 1,700 in the nation.

“Other participating schools in the Wichita area include Garden Plain, Valley Center, Andale, Maize, and Andover,” Adams said. “During the regular season, everyone shoots at their home courses and records their scores onto the league website. At the end of the season, on Father’s Day, all the teams in the state compete in the state tournament at the Kansas Trap Association in Sedgwick.”

By season’s end, BC had a sufficient number of kids with sterling scores to qualify it to bring two five-member squads to the national competition. Along with the one that finished sixth with a 491, the other finished 40th with a 478.

As he considers what makes a great target shooter, Adams suggests competitors must be unflappable and focused.

“It is an easy game to learn, but a hard one to master,” he said. “You need to be mentally strong, willing to work, be coachable, and put in the effort. What makes our students special is that they are not afraid to do just that.”

Adams points out that the sport is a costly one though, so BC holds a benefit shoot every spring.  “You cannot reuse a ball in our sport, and guns, targets, and ammunition are expensive, so every bit of support is helpful,” he said.

The culture around the BC program has also instilled a conscientiousness that strives to leave a facility cleaner than how the team found it, Adams continues. “Whether it’s tournaments or practices, our kids are loading trap houses and picking up any trash they see, from empty shotgun shells to snack wrappers,” he said. “We get a lot of comments from the venues that we shoot at and even other teams about how clean and respectful our kids are.”

Those well-oriented attitudes extend to the team prayers that precede every competition, Adams assures.

“On those rare occasions when a coach forgets to open with the team prayers, our kids never fail to remind us,” he says. “The St. Michael the Archangel prayer has taken off the past couple of seasons as their go-to.”

Posing with a local priest and deacon after a Mass that was specially arranged for competitors in the 2025 national clay targets tournament are Bishop Carroll clay targets national tournament competitors, from left, Will Sanders, Isabella Adams, Audrey Jones, Nolan Jansen, Miles Simon, Noah Jenkins, Martin Stika, Will Esfeld, and AJ Sanders. The Mass was scheduled after a Bishop Carroll coach reached out to the parish in hopes of finding a Mass that would fit the tournament schedule. (Courtesy photo)