Coeur d'Alene High has state's top guns

No, that wasn't beginner's luck.

Coeur d'Alene High School's trap and skeet team, which competed for the first time ever in 2012 and won the Idaho high school championship, backed that up with its second championship last month in Boise.

Leading the way was Grant Thurman, who posted the highest overall score as the top shooter in each event - trap, skeet and sporting clays. Second place went to Coeur d'Alene's Joe Mandaro.

The Vikings emerged victorious among 95 competitors participating at three levels: grade school, high school and college. During the rigorous competition, more than 18,000 rounds were safely fired.

Next year, the state championships, sponsored by Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation, will be hosted in Coeur d'Alene.