Page 6 - Reedley Exponent 7-19-18 E-edition

IMMANUEL Continued from page A1
that — but [trap shooting] teaches the kids the whole way through discipline, re- spect and teamwork,” Bill Vogt, coach and team advis- er, said of the Olympic sport. “It’s also an educational pro- cess knowing the parts of the gun, knowing the parts of the shell, knowing the station, the whole process.”
Two Immanuel shooters earned all-state honors — Colton Vogt and Parker Phil- pott. The teammates actually tied for the state high gun overall award with 96 out of 100 points. Vogt prevailed by tiebreaker, determined by a reverse run of shooting.
Colton — son of the coach — also won first high gun male along with high gun av- erage for male and overall.
“I started off with a Red Ryder BB gun,” Colton said with a laugh. He added that he’s been shooting for three years in organized competi- tion and most of his life in general.
Hunter Keiler finished first in state high gun in the female novice class. Sisters Makaila and Carissa Hall placed second and third in the state’s high gun JV class. And Drew Vogt took first place in high gun female in conference competition at the Kingsburg Gun Club.
Bill Vogt explained the scoring breakdown for trap shooting. Each week, com- petitors would shoot 50 tar- gets and two rounds of 25 and submit scores. Shoot- ers aim for clay birds that are launched from a single house or machine. Any or all contact with the “birds” reg- isters as a hit.
“It doesn’t matter if you smoke it and it disappears or you get a chip, it counts the same,” the coach said.
All scores are submitted online, and season standings are compiled and posted for all state schools.
Assistant coach Brett Phil- pott said that trap shooting is infinitely more safe per stu- dents than most interscholas- tic sports.
“Safety is number one for us,” he said. “There are strict
Bill Vogt / Photo Contributed
Members of the Immanuel High School state champion trap shoot team are (from left) Jameson Taves, Braxton Philpott, Makaila Hall, Drew Vogt, Hunter Kreiter, Carissa Hall, Colton Vogt and Parker Philpott. Not pictured is team member Tyler Schlesselman.
Council OKs
2-year deal
with general
services unit
Staff Report
On July 10, the Reedley City Council unanimously approved a two-year agree- ment between the city and the International Union of Operating Engineers Sta- tionary Local 239 — com- monly known as the general services unit.
The memorandum of understanding began effec- tive July 1 and runs through June 30, 2020. It includes a non-perishable 2 percent cash payment stipend for each employee, equivalent to 2 percent of salary for both the 2018-19 and 2019- 20 fiscal years. The stipend payments will be an equal amount for each member based on the average of members’ current base sal- aries in effect on July 1 in each year of the agreement.
Paul Melikian, assis- tant city manager, said in his presentation to council that it was a “tough” year all across the state because of unfunded liabilities in the CalPERS retirement program.
“It’s affecting most pub- lic agencies. We approached it very conservatively,” he said. Melikian also thanked the union’s understanding of the city’s situation with CalPERS.
The brief 25-minute council meeting also had the council unanimously approving a resolution to spend Measure C funding on Phase 2 of the Manning Avenue heavy phase project. The low bid was awarded to MAC Engineering at just less than $665,000. The proj- ect will resurface Manning between Frankwood and Columbia avenues and begin near the end of the year.
There will be no City Council meeting on Tues- day, July 24. The next regu- lar meeting will be Tuesday, Aug. 14.
The Reedley Exponent A6 Thursday, July 19, 2018
guidelines in the program. But you don’t have to be a super- star jock athlete to shoot.”
Makaila Hall said she and her sister have shot for years, although this was the 2018 graduate’s first year on the team.
“Our family puts out their own traps,” she said. “My dad has always had a gun in our hands, so we understand the importance of safety.”
Coach Vogt said that ev- ery team members has to go through a hunter safety class as well as an online class on the sport to qualify for com- petition.
Makaila said she may continue to trap shoot in col- lege. She starts classes this fall at Fresno State, where she’s majoring in pre-veter- inary and she wants to be a large animal veterinarian specializing in horse chiro- practic care.
Other team members are Braxton Philpott, Jameson Taves and Tyler Schlesselman. Taves and Makaila Hall were the only seniors on the 2018 squad.
Brett Philpott said an en- tire group of eighth-graders is moving up to the high school level. Most already
Bill Vogt / Photos Contributed
LEFT: Braxton and Parker Philpott hold up the state championship first place plaque.
RIGHT: Drew Vogt holds her competitive rifle. She placed first in conference for high gun female.
have experience shooting with the Kingsburg Trap Club.
Vogt said the goal is to
increase the number of team membersattheschooltogeta larger following and base.
“If we can double in size
this year — and Immanuel is asmallschool—moreschools around will get involved,” he said.
017140