By Rich Winter

605 Sports

Late in the summer of 2022 Winner High School senior trap shooter Jude Sargent figured it out. 

Confidence gained from late success in 2022 and a rigorous offseason shooting regiment has Sargent at the top of his game with his summer season in full swing. 

“Last year around this time I really started to improve,” Sargent said. “I figured out my motion and after last year I really started caring and putting more time in practice.”

The newly improved technique and dedication to the sport is producing elite results on the 2023 trap-shooting circuit. 

At the South Dakota High School Finals Rodeo in Ft. Pierre in June, Sargent won top honors breaking 97-of-100 targets for his first-ever win at a big competition. 

“That was pretty cool,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to go to a competition and be the top dog and have everyone around looking.” 

At last week’s 4-H Nationals in Grand Island, Nebraska, Sargent had a fifth-place finish in trap shooting and combined with Jack Anderson (Winner), Turner Thompson (Groton) and Peyton Johnson (Belle Fouche) to earn first-place team honors in the team trap competition. 

Jude Sargent finished fifth in the nation at the 4-H National trap shooting competition last week - Courtesy photo

A change in mindset has also helped Sargent step up his trap shooting game. 

“I’ve got it in my head that I’m going to come home from every meet with some kind of hardware,” he said. 

Sargent, who also participates in football and wrestling, showed promise at a very early age and has been shooting competitively for seven years. 

“My dad (Craig Sargent) got me into it and I’ve always been good at shooting stuff with a shotgun,” he said. 

The doves, grouse and pheasants near his home didn’t stand much of a chance against Sargent, who made the Winner varsity trap shooting team as a middle-schooler.  

“We knew the coach (Tim Pravecek) and I started shooting in fifth grade and I made the varsity as a sixth grader,” he said. 

Sargent is currently in Michigan where he will be shooting at the USA High School Clay Target League National Championships, which are taking place July 7-9. 

Once that event is completed the Sargents will head home for a few days before loading up again to compete in the trap shooting competition at the National High School Rodeo Finals in Gillette, Wyoming. 

“I think that is going to be fun,” he said. “I know a lot of other kids that do rodeo and I’m looking forward to meeting some new friends and I think I have a good chance of coming home with something.” 

Sargent is a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and won a Lakota Nation Invitational wrestling title at 170 pounds in 2022. 

Long time Tripp County trip shooting coach Tim Pravecek pictured with Jude Sargent - Courtesy photo