By Jacob Mayer
Justin DeWitt of Sparta followed up his first career  perfect trapshooting round two weeks ago with his second career perfect round Wednesday, August 4 during the Grand American at the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta.
DeWitt, competing for Sparta High School,  hit 100 out of 100 targets Saturday, July 24 during the Scholastic Clay Target Program national championships.
He then came back for the Grand American to complete his high school career.
DeWitt competed in the Hodgdon Powder Singles event and hit all 100 targets. The performance tied him for the lead with Nathan Hofer, captain of the Junior All-American team out of South Dakota.
He finished in the runner-up position for the event, but DeWitt didn’t find out the results until Sunday.
“I went into the event center Sunday, and (the board stated) I got second place,” DeWitt said. “I was like, ‘Whoa!’ I was pretty excited.”
DeWitt said it was special for him to compete against some of the best shooters in the country and represent the local area well.
Personally, DeWitt was proud of his second perfect score because he didn’t want the first perfect round to be a fluke.
“I showed I could do it twice,” he said, “and if you try hard enough, you can get it.”
The past week marked DeWitt’s last competition with the Sparta High school trapshooting team in the Academics, Integrity, Marksmanship (AIM) championship, where he hit 192 of 200 targets.
DeWitt started to feel the finality of the moment as he prepared for the final shot.
“It hit me when I put the last shell in the gun,” he said. “It’s sad, but it’s also a new horizon.”
Overall, DeWitt was pleased with his performance and that of the entire Sparta High School team, considering the heat it had to deal with throughout the weekend.
However, before he closed the book on his high school career, DeWitt made sure he went out with a bang.
“I hit the last target,” he said. “I took my time. [The target] came out of the house and I crushed it.”
One of his coaches, Glenn Simpson, said the last week of DeWitt’s high school career went just as he had hoped.
“It makes me proud as punch,” Simpson said. “I’m as proud, if not prouder, than his mom and dad.”
Since DeWitt came in as a freshman at Sparta High School, his goal was to shoot as well as possible and end on a high note.
“To finish the way I did, it was the best I could,” he said. “It’s the way I wanted it to end.”