Locally led team wins blanket trapshoot title

About 120 trapshooters from all over the Pacific Northwest turned out last weekend at the Pomona grounds for the Big Yak/Joe King Memorial Blanket Shoot.

Although the Big Yak blanket shoot has been around for 59 years and is sanctioned by the Pacific International Trap Association, this was the fifth year since the blanket shoot itself was renamed in honor of Joe King, a successful local trapshooter who died in 2003. As for the blankets themselves, the hand-made, specially embroidered blankets are valued at more than $500 each, making them one of the region's most coveted prizes in trapshooting.

Over the two days of shooting, as always the highlight event was Sunday's blanket shoot, in which five-shooter teams were selected by blind draw to compete for the championship memorial blankets and the runner-up silver belt buckles, all of which were donated by the King family and Ideal Lumber and Hardware in honor of Joe.

A team led by locals Robert Gray and Jake Munguia took the blanket-shoot title, with second place going to a team including John Klingele, Kyle Malesich and Ken Smith.

Will Johnson of Yakima, in only his first year of competitive shooting,
had a big weekend; he tied for the
B class lead in Saturday's 16-yard event before losing in a shootoff, then came back on Sunday to capture the day's handicap event with a 96, besting the field by two birds.

Another big local winner was John Cushin, who took the A class in both the Saturday and Sunday 16-yard events, each time with a 97. Jordan Taylor was a double winner among the juniors in the 16-yard events, and he also topped Jason Klingele in a shootoff to top all juniors in Sunday's handicap. Kyle Malesich took the sub-junior class in both handicap events and also Sunday's handicap.

Other locals among Saturday's winners were Jake Switzer in the sub-juniors of the 16-yard event and Ken Sanden with a 92 for the short-yardage handicap trophy. All trophies for Saturday's handicap were donated by the Phipps family in honor of the late Bud Phipps, another popular and capable shooter.

Other Sunday winners included Jake Switzer in the 16-yard C class and, in the handicap, Paul Klingele taking the short-yardage buckle with a 94.

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