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Local 4-Hers compete at nationals
Pictured are the three local high school students who competed at the 4-H National Shooting Sports Invitational at Grand Island, Neb. in June. From left are Cody Henneke, Diana Jurek and Matthew Barnes.
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By Jacob Truchard, Sports Writer
Three local high school students recently earned the chance to compete at the national 4-H competitions back in June.
Columbus High School senior Cody Henneke, CHS junior Diana Jurek and Faith Academy of Bellville sophomore Matthew Barnes are all members of the Columbus Area 4-H Shooting Sports Club who competed at 4-H National Shooting Sports Invitational in Grand Island, Neb. June 21-24.
There were teams from 29 states being represented in sports as shotgun, archery, air rifle, muzzle loading and so forth.
Henneke was a member of the first place Texas shotgun team along with Ian Love, of College Station; Tyler Martin, of New Braunfels; and Tyson Patrick, of McCamey. The Missouri team took second placed and the Virginia team took third.
“It was fun meeting people from different states and shooting against them in competition,” Henneke said.
The Texas shotgun team took top honors by dominating the competition in sporting clays, skeet shooting and hand trap.
Members of the Texas team also took the top three places in individual shotgun competition: Martin, in first; Love, in second and Henneke in third.
Cody’s father and supporter of shooting competitions, Dwayne Henneke, said he could not be prouder of his son’s performance in competition and the way Cody presented himself at the event.
“He finished in first in my book,” Dwayne Henneke said. “The Texas team was awarded for their sportsmanship during the award ceremonies.”
Dwayne said Cody not only watched out for his team, but also gave advice and looked out for opponents when scoring results didn’t look accurate or it looked like someone was being cheated by the scoring system.
“Cody made friends with kids from different states,” Dwayne Henneke said. “A kid from Minnesota recognized Cody from a shooting event at Louisiana.”
He also said Cody did not give any slack in training for the event. He practiced his marksmanship at College Station right before traveling to Nebraska to prepare for the nationals.
Cody has been competing in shotgun shooting competitions across the state and country for the past two years and has been a member of the 4-H Columbus Area Shooting Sports Club for three years.
Jurek competed on the Texas recurve archery team at nationals. The team placed fifth overall.
The team shot FITA, which is a paper target with rounds shot at 60,50, 40 and 30 meters.
The recurve archery team also shot Field, which is a course of paper targets known distances between five and 60 yards.
The archery team’s third event was 3-D, which is a course of 30 targets at unknown distances between one and 60 yards.
Jurek shoots rifle, pistol, shotgun and archery with the Columbus Area 4-H Shooting Sports Club. She has been participating with 4-H for seven years.
When asked if she would like to compete at the national level in the future she replied approvingly.
“I will be trying again next year,” Jurek said.
Barnes competed on the Texas Smallbore Rifle Team (.22 caliber rifle).
He placed 10th in individual competition in the three-position match, where they shoot prone, kneeling and standing at paper targets.
Barnes’ team placed second in the same three-position match.
The team from Texas also shot civilian marksmanship program, where the competitor shoots at a paper target both in a timed slow-fire round followed by a rapid-fire round, in each of the three positions, prone at 50 yards and kneeling and standing at 25 yards and the shooter begins from a standing position so the time includes getting down into position before aiming and firing.
The team’s third event was Smallbore Silhouettes, where the participant shoots at metallic targets to attempt to knock them off a rail, 10 each at 40, 60, 75 and 100 yards.
Overall all of the Texas teams placed high in their events. This allowed the Lone Star state to earn the overall trophy for the ninth consecutive year.
Dwayne Henneke said the national competition was an unforgettable experience for his son and himself and a great family oriented sport to participate in.
He also commended Steve and Terri Jurek for their work and efforts in making the Columbus Area 4-H Shooting Sports Club a place where young athletes can utilize their skills and spend quality time with their families.
“Four out of 36 kids competing from Texas at the nationals came from Colorado County,” Dwayne Henneke said. “That shows a lot about Steve and Terri’s efforts in making 4-H Shooting Sports in this area a success.”
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