West Greene’s Watson wins WPIAL gold
West Greene鈥檚 Sheyann Watson moved to the top of the podium on Thursday at the WPIAL Individual Rifle Championships at Mt. Lebanon/Dormont 缅北禁地men鈥檚 Club after placing fourth a year ago.
Watson, who had a score of 200-20x, beat Butler鈥檚 Andrew Arbanas, who shot a 200-19x. She had three perfect center shots.
Watson was seventh in the state last year. The Waynesburg 缅北禁地men鈥檚 Association has now produced the last three gold medalists with Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Selena Phillips winning in 2018 and 2019.
鈥淎bsolutely,鈥� Watson said of shooting a perfect score. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 get much better than perfect.鈥�
Watson missed winning the Dave Cramer Award for perfect shooting throughout section competition by missing only one shot in eight matches.
Watson admitted she had some butterflies before the competition.
鈥淚 was a little bit nervous,鈥� said Watson. 鈥淏ut, when I got in there the nerves went away. It was just me shooting.
鈥淚 could tell I was on. The target looked good. I was comfortable. I felt good.鈥�
Watson was still soaking in being the best shooter in the WPIAL.
鈥淩ight now, it means everything to me, especially since I started my freshman year,鈥� said Watson.
The Pioneers鈥� D.J. Jones scored a 200-17x to finish in 10th place and qualify for the state championships.
Ruby Rittenhouse鈥檚 score of 200-17x put three West Greene shooters into the state tournament following a 12th-place finish. The top 17 medaled and qualified for states.
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 top finisher was Bryce Bedilion in 31st place after shooting 200-11x.
Yough鈥檚 Emma Geis finished with a score of 194-7x.