Things went as planned for the NRHEG clay target team Tuesday. The Panthers placed second among 22 teams at the Class 7A state trapshooting meet in Alexandria.

With three teams qualifying in Class 7A — due to the fact that there are three conferences — NRHEG’s second-place finish means the Panthers are headed to the Minnesota State High School League state tournament in Prior Lake.

Overall, NRHEG ended with 468 points, edging out Wayzata in third place (467) and nine points behind first-place St. Michael-Albertville (477).

While it was a down day for a few shooters individually, collectively the Panthers were strong across the board. Leading NRHEG once again was Collin Christenson, who finished in a tie for fourth individually with a two-session score of 97.

Zach Eustice was also high on the leaderboard with a score of 94, which placed him in a tie for 10th. Beyond Noah Lund’s 15th-place finish (93), there were a number of NRHEG shooters placing 20th to 40th.

Tanner Alfson, Carter Hagen and Tyler Raimann finished in a three-way tie for 20th with rounds of 92. Alex Romer followed in a tie for 29th with 91 points while Braden Routh and Justin Bartz each placed 29th (90).

Typically at the top of the leaderboard, Kyle Bartz had a score of 89, which tied him with teammate Brett Kubiatowicz in 37th place.

Delano’s Nathan Lysne was the high gun with a score of 99, followed by Jesse Groen of Blaine (97) and Wayzata’s Max Bunning (97).

NRHEG’s junior varsity team also had an excellent showing, winning its division with a total of 425, followed by East Grand Forks (418) and Park High School (417). Leading the Panthers JV team was Treavor Hoffman and Alex Dobberstein, who each placed in a tie for sixth with rounds of 87.

On the female side, Morgan Phillips placed in a tie for 21st with a two-session score of 73.

NRHEG’s novice team ended with 166 points and was led by Hunter Tufte with 44 points.

Over 7,000 athletes competed at Alexandria throughout the week from more than 200 Minnesota schools. NRHEG is one of 38 teams that advance to the MSHSL state tournament, which will be Saturday at the Minneapolis Gun Club in Prior Lake.

Teams competing range anywhere from St. James and Eden Valley-Watkins to Chaska-Chanhassen and Apple Valley.

Kyle Bartz and Christenson will compete in the individual competition in Prior Lake, as well, which is based on the pair’s regular season scores.