Baker High trap team wins third straight conference title

Baker High School’s trap-shooting team added another banner to one of Baker County’s most dependable athletic runs, finishing first in Class 2A Conference 1 and capturing its third straight conference championship after five weeks of competition. The Bulldogs piled up 11,220.5 points, while runner-up Newberg finished at 8,290.50, a margin that showed Baker’s dominance was built on weeks of steady shooting rather than one hot round.

The result mattered because trap shooting rewards consistency under pressure. Baker did not just win a title, it controlled the conference from start to finish and now has about a month before it tries to complete a third consecutive state championship run. That pushes the Bulldogs beyond a local victory into something rarer for a school this size, a sustained program that has become one of Baker County’s most reliable winners.

This spring’s conference title fits a longer pattern. Baker entered the season as the defending state champion and was already leading Class 2A after two weeks of competition, with 6,922 points. Coach Zack Kimball has said Class 2A includes 10 teams and sits at the top of Oregon trapshooting, on par with the largest classifications in other sports. Early in the season, Chris Schuh started with a perfect 100-for-100, Conner Norton was near the top with a 24.75 average, and Riley Hurliman was the top-ranked girls shooter, a mix that showed Baker’s strength was spread across the roster.

The Bulldogs’ rise also reflects how much depth the program has developed in only a few years. At the 2024 state championship in Hillsboro, Baker won the Class 2A team title by breaking 472 of 500 targets, edging Mountain View’s 469 and finishing ahead of Newberg’s 460. Schuh won the overall boys title with 99 of 100 targets, and several seventh and eighth graders were already competing at varsity level, a sign that the pipeline behind the varsity team was working.

That support extends beyond the firing line. The Baker Trap Club partnered with the Baker Bulldog Trap Team to buy a new PAT trap in 2024 at the club’s range on 42698 Imnaha Road, and the team later sought $8,000 for championship rings for its 24 members. Local backing, along with the steady work of Kimball’s athletes, has helped turn an unusual spring sport into a lasting point of pride for Baker High, Baker City and the wider county.