Shooting at state

Even before Jordan Holthaus started shooting at the state meet Saturday, he was taking deep breaths. The kind that someone takes that’s trying to get rid of some anxiety. 
But after he hit 25 straight targets, then another 25 and another 25, those breaths became deeper and more numerous.
“Those last five targets I was shaking like a leaf,” he said later. “I was counting, you’re not suppose to do that but I was.”
Pretty hard not to. After all, he missed a perfect 200 e-league score — which takes the season’s top two home scores and the top two away scores — by only one shot. Holthaus had the two perfect 50 scores at home, along with one 50 and one 49 away.
“I just couldn’t get that last 50. We were at a bit of disadvantage, the teams in the southern part of the state, they shoot way more than we do.”
He’s right about that. While New Hampton’s first meet was April 5, teams like North Scott and Ankeny shoot nearly year-round.
Holthaus hit the final 25, so he finished with a perfect 100 for the first session. Later in the day he scored a 97; the total of 197 tied him for sixth place, but he lost a shootoff and didn’t bring home any awards, as only the top six bring home hardware.
For the New Hampton scores, please see the June 12 Tribune.