Juliet Studness has several irons in the fire and she’s aiming for a few proverbial ‘targets,’ too. Thus far in her young life, she’s nailed every single one.
The Vail Christian senior — a former state-qualifying Alpine skier, member of the first tennis doubles team in the valley to make a state final, and environmentally-conscience founder of Vail Valley Volunteers and president of River Watch, a school club which tests the Eagle River to ensure its water quality safety — recently added another item to the resume: All-American trapshooter.
“I was really excited,” she stated after being one of 25 shooters named to the Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA) ‘Lady I’ All-American team this fall. Studness was the only Colorado representative on the Lady I (female shooters under the age of 55) team.
“They’re the best of the best,” said Chris Huffman, president of the Gypsum Gun Club, where Juliet often practices.
“She had the will and the drive to practice and work at it, and I think that’s a really big thing that added to her success.”
Alpine ski racing was Studness’ first passion. She started as a 4-year-old back in New Jersey, and after her family arrived in Colorado six years ago, took to the slopes for the Vail Mountain School Alpine team. At the 2021 state championships, Studness tore her ACL in the final giant slalom of the season. The long recovery gave her time to focus more heavily on trapshooting, a sport her dad had introduced to her during the pandemic.
“Initially, I didn’t think I was ever going to get the hang of it,” she said of those first few rounds at the Cheery Creek State Park shooting range. She quickly discovered she had a knack for firing a shotgun at 4-inch clay discs flying through the air at 42 mph.
“I started doing better and better and eventually got my first 25 out of 25,” she continued. “That’s when my Dad and I realized that I have potential to do really well in the sport.”
Trapshooting tournaments consist of three events, each offering 100 clay targets. In singles and handicap rounds, those targets are launched from 16 yards and 19-27 yards, respectively. In doubles, participants take two shots to hit two separate targets thrown simultaneously. When Studness started out, she said her average hit percentage was about 68%.
“The more I practiced, the better I got. I learned to focus on every single shot” she said. “I developed my own process to get set up right every time, being in the right mindset and making sure my eye is focused on the leading edge of the target each time. Now I’m disappointed if I miss one single shot.”
Now, her percentage is closer to 95%.
“She’s been a great student; everybody out there has tried to give her tips and stuff like that and she’s just came a long way,” Huffman said. “She’s really grown as a person and a trapshooter.”
Studness said she’s hooked “because (trapshooting) is a sport of perfection.”
“It’s all about being mentally and physically focused on the details of that moment. You must forget about the world around you and just focus on the leading edge of the clay target,” she said.
“For me, this is a freeing and calm environment. I’ve been able to get so many important life skills from this sport. I have learned countless lessons on patience, perseverance and persistence.”
In 2022, Studness and her dad started traveling to local ATA competitions and participated in the Colorado Youth Tour. In her first state championship tournament in Grand Junction that June, Studness won the junior high overall. She ended her campaign as the only junior/youth shooter to make the Colorado state team. Buoyed by her successes, she set a new expectation for 2023: All-American status.
“When I set this goal, I thought it was pretty aggressive, but I knew I wanted to go for it even if it meant I might fail,” she said.
Studness spent this summer traveling with her dad to Arizona, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Jersey, Nevada, Utah and Illinois for state, regional and national tournaments.
“That’s one of the important things is being able to shoot in the shoots that are big enough for All-American points — and having a family that will support you to do that,” Huffman said. To be All-American eligible, one must shoot at least 6,000 targets within the trap season (Sept. 1 to Aug. 31). Points are given only to the top-3 finishers at the aforementioned competitions, with the top-25 at the end of the season earning the coveted distinction.
This year, Studness claimed four event wins, three second-place finishes and one third-place finish and was 13th at the national championships. She said the support from her family and coaches, Mike Wasserburger and Ronald Staus, was instrumental to her success.
“They gave me the courage to believe that even though it was a daunting goal, with hard work and perseverance, I could become one of the best in the country,” she said.
Inspiring the next Annie Oakley
Huffman said he wasn’t sure how many other ATA All-Americans he’s had at the gun range. He mentioned former Eagle Valley High School sharp-shooter Keegan Hammond, who was a 4H state and national sport-shooting ambassador in 2008, and Glenwood Spring’s Cliff Haycock, 85, who has made the national team 11 times.
“There’s been a lot of great shooters that lived here years ago that don’t shoot anymore or have passed on,” he said before acknowledging the relative rarity of Studness’ rise in just her second year competing and third year shooting altogether.
“I would hope that she is the start of something out here.”
As for Studness’ mission moving forward?
“That’s a tough question,” she said. “I really enjoy this sport — it’s taught me a lot and I’ve had great experiences meeting different types of people across the country.”
One thing she’d like is to inspire others to discover the same benefits trapshooting has given her. Like shooting for the stars … or, clay pigeons in this case.
“People shouldn’t be afraid to set really big goals for themselves,” she said. “(Trapshooting) is a great way to step outside your comfort zone and push yourself to get better. Any goal can be achieved through hard work and discipline. So go out and dream big.”