Kent Writesel
GROVE CITY CHRISTIAN 17 Senior
3.8 (National Honor Society) Football
Has been accepted and almost certainly will enroll at Florida Gulf Coast. Plans to major in biology and go on premed track.
You are a trap-shooter? How did you get involved?
A girl in my class, Savanna Bowshier, took me to practice when we were about 11, and ever since it has been a great sport for me. It’s relaxing. We have a club team called Madison County Fish and Game, and we shoot from January until August. We’ve been blessed to go to the state tournament. I received an invitation to go to the national tournament, but I had plans to go on a mission trip. Our meets usually are on Saturday all around the state. I enjoy the atmosphere.
Do you use a shotgun?
I started out with a single-barrel semiautomatic. Now, I have a 12-gauge doublebarrel shotgun. The clay targets are like dishes. When they come out they look like small dots. The bottom is black and the top is orange. They travel 60 mph. Everyone gets 200 shots in competitions. You take five shots on a stand at each station until you eventually get to 200.
What is your highest score?
It’s 194. I missed six. We have Gunner Hall on our team, and he went to the Junior Olympics. Gunner can hit 200 out of 200 without a problem time after time. I went to a competition this year, and first through third place were the same score, 200. If you missed one bird you were seventh or eighth place.
Do you have to control your breathing?
It comes down to focusing — the small things. You have to control your breathing. It’s also about how you stand, where your feet are pointed and how you hold the gun. This sport makes me think about so many things differently in life with regard to concentration. I’m going to continue this as a hobby.
Where was your mission trip?
We went to Arecibo, Puerto Rico, with a youth group from the church. We went down there to spread the word, but we came back feeling like we were the ones who were blessed. We helped kids at a school. There were skits and activities. We sang and did crafts or just hung out with them and talked. I thought we’d make an impact on them, but they impacted us. We found out that money doesn’t bring you happiness.
What goes through your mind when you see hurricanes bearing down on Puerto Rico?
I was talking about it with my family. They got through Irma, but their possessions were taken away from them. There is so much destruction and it breaks your heart to see this. They will get through it because they are good people — strong people.
Why the interest in Florida Gulf Coast?
My parents, Ken and Michelle, have had a place in the Tampa area for years. Florida Gulf Coast is about 2½ hours south in Fort Myers. The campus is clean — fresh — and felt like a nature preserve. You can breathe. As soon as I walked on the campus I felt like I was at home.
What else is going on?
I got my Eagle Scout badge when I turned 15 in early 2015. My dad got me involved way back with the Cub Scouts. My project to become an Eagle Scout was building a Ga-ga court for the school and church. It’s an octagon (about 3 feet high) and the kids play a variation of dodge ball inside. Mine is made of 2-by-10 and 2-by-4 wood that my dad, mom and I built in the driveway. It was a great feeling doing that.