Emily Ray, left, of Echo, and Tyler Pearson, of Irrigon, pose alongside Eastern Oregon University shooting coach John Shorts, after signing letters of intent to compete on the Eastern Oregon University trap and skeet team.

LA GRANDE — Football, volleyball and track and field scholarships fly off the shelf this time of year, but Emily Ray of Echo and Tyler Pearson of Irrigon are headed to Eastern Oregon University to compete on the trap and skeet team.

“I am so excited,” Ray said. “(EOU coach) John Shorts contacted my dad (Chad) and said he had been watching me for a couple of years and that he wanted to offer me a scholarship to come shoot for him. I knew Eastern had a program, but I never thought I would be a collegiate shooter. When I got the offer from EOU, I was super excited.”

Ray has been shooting since she was in the seventh grade. She recently tied for seventh at the Oregon State High School Clay Target League State Tournament, and is shooting at the Pacific International Trapshooting Association Washington State Shoot from July 7-11 at the Evergreen Sportsmen’s Club in Olympia.

Pearson, a recent graduate of Irrigon High School, shoots on the Hermiston team. He recently tied for 10th at state, hitting 94 out of 100 clay targets. He also is headed to nationals.

“When I first started shooting, I did 4-H shooting, then went to high school shooting as a sophomore,” Pearson said. “My average score is between a 96 and a 97. At state, I mentally got in my head. I have played every other sport, and this is the most mental one.”

Shorts said trapshooting is the fastest growing high school sport in the country.

“It is really taking off,” he said. “I met Emily and Tyler and watched them shoot and compete against my daughters. Just from watching them and seeing them at shoots, I thought they would be a good fit on the team. They are always willing to help out. They have good attitudes, and that’s almost worth more than their shooting ability.”

Hermiston shooting coach John Adams said Pearson is the first member of his team to go on to shoot at the college level.

“It’s growing in popularity,” Adams said of the sport. “The high school league does offer scholarships, but you have to meet the criteria. The focus of trapshooting in the past 10 years has gone toward getting youth involved. Ten years ago, kids didn’t dominate the sport, now they win championships that older guys like myself used to win.”

When Ray joins the EOU team, there will be four women — and three of them are named Emily.

“The team is already amazing,” Ray said. “They are super nice and I love the atmosphere. I think we will have a really good team. I am excited. We get to travel all over the place like Texas, Nevada and Montana.”

While Ray, who plans to major in speech pathology or nursing, is looking forward to her new adventure, she’s a little worried about her dad.

“I don’t know how my dad will handle it,” she said “He has been my coach from Day 1.”

Pearson played football and basketball at Irrigon, but did not play school sports after he dislocated his shoulder out of its socket during his final basketball game his freshman year.

Shooting replaced school sports, and Pearson has done quite well.

He is ranked No. 2 in the league standings behind teammate Dustin Hamilton. He also competes in non-high school events, which helps get his name out.

“Going to other competitions and doing well, they know I can shoot well,” Pearson said. “That is one of the greatest things, you don’t know if you are going up against an Olympic shooter or the worst shooter on the planet when you go to some of these shoots.”

Pearson, who has a summer internship (which comes with a scholarship) at Threemile Canyon Farms, will major in agricultural science.