Ryan Bowen of Jacksonville has been selected to the 2017 Sub-Junior (under the age of 15) All-American trapshooting second team, according to the Amateur Trapshooting Association.
More than 100 years old, trapshooting is a competitive sport of shooting at 4 1/4-inch clay targets with a shotgun.
Since being featured in The Leader last July for his winning efforts in the Arkansas Youth Shooting Sports Program, as well as other events, Bowen has added several more accolades to an already long list, garnering the ATA All-American honor.
The ATA hosts both the Grand American (the 11-day world tournament which in August drew 3,400 contestants to the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta, Ill.) and a series of “satellite” Grands (smaller, regional tournaments providing Grand American-style trophies and competition).
The association also sponsors five zone shoots.
To be considered for the All-American team, Bowen had to meet a minimum target requirement, and he had to have competed in at least three states.
Selection was made based on All-American points accumulated while winning trophies and posting high scores at tournaments throughout the country during the 2016 ATA target year.
The JHS sophomore’s excellent performance at the Grand American garnered him an abundance of trophies.
Significant among his victories, Bowen became the top Sub-Junior athlete in the Winchester Super 500 Doubles race, missing only three of the 500 targets. He also triumphed in his category with two perfect scores of 100x100 from 16-yards in the Sterling Cut Glass and the Champion of Champions events.
Additionally, Bowen hit all of his two hundred targets in the prestigious ATA World Clay Target Championship, and won the runner-up position in his category after a tiebreaker.
At the Southwest Zone, Bowen dominated his category, earning five trophies in becoming the Sub-Junior champion in the doubles championship with an impressive 100x100.
Bowen’s trapshooting talent was clearly evident at the Arkansas State shoot, where he won nine trophies and became the Sub-Junior champion in the Singles Championship, as well as the 1,000 target High-Over-All race.
Bowen also became the first ATA Sub-Junior athlete to become the state’s All Around champion, winning over the entire field of competitors in this 400-target contest.
Competing in the Missouri State shoot, Bowen brought home seven more trophies as a non-resident Sub-Junior, which included his victory over the challengers in his category in the 1,200-target High-Over-All race.
