Skaggs Shooting for Gold

ENID, OK - Shelby Skaggs shot a 12 gauge shotgun for the first time at age 15. Now, she has qualified to shoot at the United States Olympic Shooting Center in Colorado Springs this summer for what she hopes is a chance to be a United States Junior Olympian in Bunker Trap.
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Skaggs graduates this month from NOC Enid and will attend The University of the Ozarks on an academic/shooting scholarship with the Junior Olympics in her sights. How did this all happen?
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“It’s the weirdest thing,” Skaggs said. "The 4H coach approached my dad and asked if I would be interested in joining the 4H, that they needed a girl to shoot on the co-ed 4H shotgun team.”
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“They said I didn’t have to be good, I just had to be able to shoot,” she laughed. “So, I showed up at practice, totally scared to death shooting with all these guys who have been shooting their entire lives. I was so nervous.”
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“Obviously, I wasn’t very good at first,” Skaggs admitted. “But I took to shooting and I am a very competitive person so I practiced a ton and strived to be better. When I do something, I always try to do my best.”
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In no time, Skaggs became one of the top shooters for the 4H shotgun team. In 2016, she qualified in Trap, Skeet and Sporting Clays for 4H Nationals.
At the age of 15, Skaggs joined the ATA program and shoots in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Arizona, Kansas, New Mexico and the Grand Nationals in Sparta, IL. Skaggs has won many awards and met many friends that she calls family.
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Skaggs loves shooting so much that she asked her principal about starting a shotgun team at school in Pond Creek-Hunter. They did and competed in the Oklahoma Scholastic Shooting Sports Program. Skaggs won in 2016-2017 Top Individual Female Senior Division, and 2017 Top Overall Shooter her senior year, she said with a smile, "beating the boys." The Skaggs name will continue in shooting as her younger sister Shay is a state champion in her age group. “It’s cool to see her shooting and doing well,” she said.
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Skaggs then decided she wanted to shoot in college where she was offered a scholarship at Connors State College in Warner. She competed at seven meets and won 27 medals for Connors but Warner didn’t feel like home so she moved back home and enrolled at NOC Enid to continue her education and shooting. Skaggs is glad for NOC for giving her the opportunity to continue to shoot.
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Practice can be very challenging as Skaggs said she shoots 400 – 500 skeet per week. Competitions include over 1,000 shots in a two day period.
“I love shooting because I’m a perfectionist,” she said. “It truly is my passion and I’m driven by being perfect.”
She added that shooting is mostly mental.
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“My coach always says that shooting is 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical,” she said. “The hardest part is when you miss and then you have to reset yourself and move forward. It is a mentally grueling sport. You have to be so focused to shoot at a high level.”
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Skaggs qualified to shoot at the Olympic Shooting Center this summer where she will train for 30 days and hopefully earn a chance to qualify for a future Olympics.
She qualified for the summer program at the 2018 ACUI Clay Targets Eastern Super Shoot and USAS Qualifier at Tillar, Arkansas, in November.
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At the qualifier, Skaggs was 2nd International Skeet, 3rd International Trap and 2nd HOA International Event. Also, in the American Events Skaggs' placings included 1st Trap, 1st Skeet, 3rd Sporting Clays, 1st HOA American Event and 2nd HOA all the events combined. The women’s division had 27 women and 151 participants from 17 colleges.
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“If you had told me five years ago that this would be my path in life I would have said you were crazy,” she joked.
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Shelby Skaggs who lives in Nash, Oklahoma, is a 2017 graduate of the Pond Creek-Hunter High School. She has signed a letter of intent with The University of the Ozarks is in Clarksville, Arkansas.
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With a new year, comes new beginnings and fears, but she trusts the verse Jeremiah 29:11. She says, "No matter what happens, he will never leave me, God and my family will love and support me."
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Northern Oklahoma College, the state’s oldest community college, is a multi-campus, land-grant institution that provides high quality, accessible, and affordable educational opportunities and services which create life-changing experiences and develop students as effective learners and leaders within their communities in a connected, ever changing world.
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Serving nearly 5,000 students, NOC is a public, two-year community college with locations in Tonkawa, Enid and Stillwater. The college is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and offers associate degrees in three general areas: Arts, Science and Applied Science. The associate degree fulfills lower-division course work which is applicable towards a bachelor’s degree.
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For more information about Northern Oklahoma College or giving to the NOC Foundation, please contact the development office at (580) 628-6208 or visit the NOC website at www.noc.edu.
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