West Greene’s Watson places 9th in state rifle tournament
Jim Downey | 缅北禁地
In this Jan. 23, 2018, photo, West Greene鈥檚 Sheyann Watson (left) and DJ Jones go through preparations before a Section 1 match Waynesburg Central at the Waynesburg 缅北禁地man鈥檚 Club. Watson finished ninth in the state tournament, while Jones placed 12th.
West Greene senior Sheyann Watson poses with the gold medal she was awarded after winning the 2020 WPIAL Individual Rifle Championship on Feb. 18 at Mt. Lebanon/Dormont 缅北禁地men鈥檚 Club. Watson then placed ninth in the state tournament to earn All-State honors.(Submitted photo)
West Greene senior Sheyann Watson finished ninth in the Pa. State Scholastic Smallbore Rifle Championships to earn All-Tournament honors for the second year in a row.
West Greene senior Sheyann Watson capped her impressive final season for the Pioneers when she finished ninth in the state tournament that concluded on Feb. 20.
Watson earned All-Tournament honors for the second year in a row. She finished seventh in the state last year.
The 19th annual Pa. State Scholastic Smallbore Rifle Championships were held in two locations in the state with Frazier-Simplex Rifle Club the western site. The results came through a little over a week after both sites concluded their two-day competition.
Targets in the state final were different than the ones competitors used in section and district competitions.
鈥淚t鈥檚 based off perfect center shots. 鈥榅s鈥� don鈥檛 exist,鈥� explained West Greene coach Sam Crawford. 鈥淭he scoring is done all by computers. The sheets are scanned through a computer.鈥�
The best score in a 10-shot sheet in section competition is 100-10x, but with the scoring system in the state tournament a perfect shot was valued at 10.9 with a perfect round scoring at 109. With four rounds (40 shots) in the competition, a perfect round score was 436.0.
Watson had a slow start, opening with 100.5. She picked up a bit in the next two rounds with scores of 103.6. Watson closed with 101.5 for a four-round total (40 shots) of 409.2 after finishing with a 409.9 last year.
Watson said she was a bit under the weather in the state final, so she needed time to build her focus and concentration. Also, the targets are smaller than the ones used throughout the season.
鈥淚 was really sick the day of states. It was really rough on the first two sets. Starting out, I was shaky. I settled in after two or three shots,鈥� said Watson, who will attend Bethany College (W.Va.) this fall.
鈥淭hese targets are actually smaller than the ones we shoot. Normally, we shoot A17 size. The ones at states were A50. It was definitely challenging,鈥� said Watson. 鈥淲e had to change our apertures on our sights.鈥�
Each of the 42 competitors had 20 minutes to finish each target.
鈥淚 like to take my time and get a good rhythm. I try to zone out,鈥� said Watson.
Crawford prepared Watson, along with teammates D.J. Jones and Ruby Rittenhouse, for the state tournament by practicing on the targets.
鈥淲e actually started practicing on the state targets. We had to change the aperture on the sights,鈥� explained Crawford. 鈥淭he state target was smaller, so it was a large change in the aperture. Shooting at that target is a more precise sight than in the regular season.鈥�
Crawford added the smaller target increases the pressure on the athlete鈥檚 concentration and focus.
鈥淭hey (use the smaller targets) to make kids be more competitive. It comes down to pure skill,鈥� said Crawford. 鈥淎n athlete needs to be able to focus on the heart rate and breathing. Plus, they have to trust their coach, their spotter.
鈥淚鈥檝e spotted for Sheyann for four years. She dropped only four Xs all season. She was only one of two shooters (in the WPIAL) in my eight years (with the team), that鈥檚 the best season average I鈥檝e seen.鈥�
Not bad for a relative newcomer to the sport.
鈥淲hen she started as just a freshman, Sheyann had never shot a rifle before,鈥� said Crawford.
Not only was Frazier-Simplex a familiar range for the Pioneers, but the state champion came out of Section 1, Avella鈥檚 Alayna Walther.
鈥淚 know. I was pretty pleased to see a familiar face win,鈥� said Watson.
Watson also had familiar faces in teammates Jones and Rittenhouse. Jones placed 12th with a score of 408.0 (104.6, 100.0, 102.8, 100.6), while Rittenhouse was 42nd with a score of 393.9 (97.2, 99.4, 96.8, 100.5).
鈥淩uby Rittenhouse is only a junior. She had a lot of nerves. She didn鈥檛 know what to expect,鈥� said Crawford. 鈥淚 wish Ruby would鈥檝e shot a little better than she did. Next year, who knows? She might break the top 10.鈥�
Everett鈥檚 Morgan White was second with a score of 413.5. Butler鈥檚 Andrew Arbanas placed third with 413.1. Everett鈥檚 Allison Klavuhn (413.0), Joey Kovach (411.8), and Jesse Chamberlain (410.6), Emmaus鈥� Griffin Lake (412.2), and Washington鈥檚 Kayla Andreoli (411.3) rounded out the all-state team.
Waynesburg Central competed in the team championships, also shooting at Frazier-Simplex. The Raiders finished seventh with a team score of 1,005.8. Everett won the team title with 1,027.4.
Only five scores counted in the two-round team total with Grace Kalsey (202.0), Bryce Bedilion (201.4), RJ Wolen (201.2), Abby Ozohonish (200.6) and Tristan Cole (200.6) accounting for the scoring rounds for the Raiders.
Talia Tuttle (199.9), Colby Simkovic (199.3), Shelby Burkett (198.9), Taylor Burnfield (198.8) and Taylor Wasson (194.4) did not factor in the final score.
The rifle tournament was the last winter sport to complete its championship. Basketball was suspended a week from its finish, while swimming completed only the Class AAA portion of the state meet.
鈥淚鈥檓 very grateful to be able to finish my season,鈥� said Watson. 鈥淚t was a good-luck thing our sport was able to finish up when we did.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 extremely happy (the tournament was completed). I feel so bad for basketball, softball and track & field, especially the seniors,鈥� added Crawford.