Good Sports: 15-year-old Valley student thriving in target shooting

TOLLHOUSE, Calif. (KFSN) -- 15-year-old Brady Linton has become quite the marksman.

"It gives me kind of an adrenaline boost every time I do it," he said.

For the incoming Sierra High School sophomore, target shooting is a family affair.

"Shooting firearms has always been a part of our family," says Chad Linton, Brady's dad. "A lot of us grew up shooting."

When Brady was just seven years old, Chad began to teach him the ropes.

"Thought it was pretty cool, and I think that's when I really fell in love with guns," Linton said.

Now, you'll find Brady shooting moving clay targets as a trapshooter.

"Ignore all the distractions and just focus on the clays," he said.

Entering his freshman year at Sierra, Brady finally got the opportunity to compete on the school's first-ever trap shooting team with dad as head coach.

"A lot of the kids don't play in a sport, so it was really nice to have an alternative," Chad said.

As part of the USA State High School Clay Target League, all the athletes completed a safety program while getting some help from a local ranch in Prather to practice.

"We had a really nice carousel thrower that a parent donated, and we'd meet every Saturday at 10 am and shoot for about two hours," Chad said.

At the start of June, the Chieftains took their skills to the Kingsburg Gun Club for the state tournament -- 300 athletes shooting at nearly 30,000 targets.

"The shooting styles they already had in place were elevated because it was much simpler down there to shoot," Chad said.

"It was a new experience for me, so I was pretty nervous at the time," Brady said.

To calm the nerves, one of Brady's teammates started humming Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" while shooting.

A technique Brady hopped on board with.

"That day, I was humming the Beach Boys actually."

Brady got around to hitting 87 out of 100 targets, walking away as the novice state champion.

Now, Brady is aiming for more than just clay targets. He's hoping to bring another state title to Sierra.

"I believe that anything that I could put my mind to, I could do," he said.

For sports updates, follow Alec Nolan on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.