Clay Target Club standout Raven Reaume
BY SAMANTHA BARTOW
Grosse Ile High School student Raven Reaume recently came in second place at the junior varsity level at the 2019 Michigan State Clay Target Tournament.
Scoring 82 points, Reaume secured her spot at the podium at the mid-June event, marking a successful end of the year for GIHS Clay Target Club’s third season.
Clay Target is a club sport and competition is coed, so Reaume was competing in a field that included boys.
Reaume, who is going into her senior year, has been a part of the Clay Target Club since it began her freshman year. This year’s team consisted of 25 athletes — 20 boys and five girls — split between novice, junior varsity and varsity. Because of the nature of the sport, the team practices at The Wayne County Sportsman’s Club two times a week for about two hours, with competitions every weekend.
The state tournament brought about fierce competition, with more than 1,000 schools athletes competing. With five shooters competing at a time, each athlete got 100 rounds of ammunition and received one point for every clay target shot out of the sky — making Reaume’s 82 points an impressive feat indeed.
In her three years with the team, Reaume has developed a strong connection to the sport.
“It’s relaxing — it helps to stop thinking about other things, and it’s a sport that only requires me to best myself, and improve my own scores.”
“I think I started because of dad encouraging me,” Reaume said of taking up the sport. “My brother and friends were joining the team. I didn’t really know what it was at first, but the first time I shot I had fun so I stuck with it.”
With a new school year on the near horizon, Reaume is looking forward to her final season with her team. She is hoping to continue pursuing the sport in college while possibly pursuing an education in writing.