Eagle Mountain high school senior represents USA at international shooting competition

Like most high school seniors, Kaleb Horinek enjoys activities that make adrenaline pump through his veins. But unlike most seniors, he gets his rush by shooting at targets flying faster than the wind.

"For me, it's all about the adrenaline I get. Chasing a target going 70 mph just gets my heart racing; and once you see that target break into dust or a thousand little pieces, it's just so satisfying," he said. "Just knowing you can shoot something that hard, it's just so much fun."

The Eagle Mountain 18-year-old just returned from Lima, Peru, for his first international competition: the International Shooting Sport Federation Junior World Championship. In his ninth year of professional shooting, he represented the state of Utah while competing for Team USA.

Although he didn't do as well as he hoped, the high school senior said the experience was "amazing."

Horinek first got into shooting when his dad brought him along 10 years ago. He ended up loving it and started going shooting consistently at Wasatch Wing and Clay, a hunting club located northwest of Eagle Mountain.

Soon after, he was approached by a coach at the range and asked to be on the club's youth shooting team. That same coach was the one who introduced Horinek to international trap three years ago.

"He invited me to go with him to Hillsdale, Michigan, to go shoot. I took up the offer, and I haven't looked back," he said.

Horinek competed in the international trap event in Lima at the beginning of October. The competition included a 60-foot-long bunker that had 15 traps. Participants were tasked with shooting 25 targets from five different shooting posts, where the clay targets' trajectories were randomized by a computer to keep the shooters on their toes.

Compared to a normal trap shooting event, in which the bunker is raised, international trap has a bunker that is level with the ground, and the targets travel faster, flying at more than 68 mph, Horinek said.

There is not an international trap practice facility in Utah, and the closest ones are more than eight hours away in Missoula, Montana, or Pikes Peak, Colorado. Horinek has only been able to practice at an official training facility the few times he has attended training events with his coach.

Luckily, Wasatch Wing and Clay installed an international wobble trap last year, which Horinek calls the "mini bunker." It allows him to do similar training to international trap shooting.

To qualify for the International Shooting Sport Federation, Horinek competed in Hillsdale, Michigan, and Tucson, Arizona. The USA team only takes four people to overseas competitions, and Horinek tied for fourth but lost in the shoot-off.

Horinek became the first replacement for the event. Then, one of the team members was called into basic training for the Army Marksmanship Unit, so Horinek got to take his spot for Peru.

"I didn't meet the expectations I wanted to while down there. I struggled for the first four out of five rounds ... but I learned a ton," he said about his experience in Peru.

At the competition, you have to be on your best game — and not put so much pressure on yourself that you fall apart, he said.

Horinek said the competition coach kept feeding him confidence, and in the last round, he shot a perfect 25 out of 25 targets.

"It was a totally different experience than shooting here in the states. Here in the states, you're competing for a spot, and you're trying to win, but down there, you are really fighting because you are going against the best of the best juniors in the world," he said.

The shooting community in Utah is "huge," close-knit and growing, he said. He said the community and the MidwayUSA Foundation are "trying our best" to get an international trap facility and more wobble traps installed so competitions can be hosted here.

Horinek hopes it will bring more people into the sport and get more youth into international competitions.

Shooting is "easy but takes a lot of dedication" and is the "funnest" sport he's ever done. It's a sport he can "always go back to" and is "one of the safest sports you can ever do," Horinek said.

Horinek is looking at colleges in the Midwest that have shooting programs he can be a part of to continue improving his skills while getting a degree.