Tyler Thompson of Panaca won the gold medal of the senior division at the 4-H trap-shooting competition in Winnemucca Oct. 4.
Competing with the Lincoln County 4-H Club, Thompson, 18, is a recent graduate of Lincoln County High School.
The 4-H Expo competition also involved junior, intermediate and senior divisions in archery, and .22 limited rifle.
Thompson took third place when he competed in the junior trap-shooting division a few years ago.
Attending the expo with Thompson and the Lincoln County club were his younger brother Riley; Preston Hunter of Caliente; Seth and Samantha Patrick and Kalee Lee, all from Panaca.
Thompson said there were 21 contestants in the senior division. “We had five stations to rotate to and took five shots at each station. There were two sets of that for a total of 50 shots. In the first set I was 22 of 25 and in the second round I hit all 25.”
He is now eligible to compete in the 4-H nationals, but those will not be held until 2020, which will give Thompson time to consider whether he wants to enter.
Cindy Higbee, who has been the 4-H coordinator for Lincoln County for about a year, said, “We took five kids from Lincoln County and along with Ty Thompson, Preston Hunter, age nine, won the silver medal in shotgun junior division. It’s his first year competing. Seth Patrick of Panaca competed in archery and .22 limited rifle. Riley Thompson received a red ribbon in junior shotgun; Kalee Lee received a red ribbon in intermediate archery and Samantha Patrick took a blue ribbon in intermediate archery. Seth Patrick in the senior division was sixth place in both shotgun and archery and fourth place in .22 limited rifle.”
Higbee said the coaches were Steve Rowe and Larry Jonas in Caliente and Christy and Lee Decker in Panaca.
She said, “I was very pleased with the showing of the kids at the expo. We would have had more going from our club, but it also happened to be the same weekend as homecoming at Pahranagat Valley High School.”
