Butler Collects WPIAL Rifle Team Championship

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Canonsburg, Pa. – The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) began a packed week of winter championships with the WPIAL Rifle Team Championships on Tuesday, held at Dormont-Mt. Lebanon Sportsmen’s Club in Canonsburg. The field consisted of eight teams, five being section champions or co-champions and three runners-up.

After finishing second at the 2022 championships, Butler emerged as the victor this year, as its score of 799-49x bested runner-up Penn-Trafford at 798-57x. The championship is the Golden Tornado’s fourth in school history, alongside trophies from 1988, 1993, and 2020. Trinity finished third with a score of 798-54x, with Mt. Lebanon (4th, 798-49x), Bethel Park (5th, 797-54x), West Greene (6th, 794-46x), McGuffey (7th, 793-42x), and Armstrong (792-47x) rounding out the field.

LINK: 2023 WPIAL Rifle Team Championship Results

Seven of Butler’s eight scorers posted scores of 100, with Tabitha Burke’s 100-09x leading the team. Riley Doutt (100-07x), Dylan McKean (100-06x), Hayleigh Gorog (100-06x), Madison Krainbucher (100-05x), Lauren McKean (100-05x), Nathaniel Aaron (100-04x), and Grace Seybert (99-07x) completed the Golden Tornado’s scoring, with Luke Frazier (99-06x) and Brady Stewart (99-04x) also competing for the Section IV champions.

The lone perfect 100-10x score was achieved by Penn-Trafford’s Carlee Valenta. Burke and West Greene’s JLin Scott shared second individually with 100-09x tallies.

Prior to announcing the results, section plaques were distributed to Butler (Section IV champion), McGuffey (Section I champion), Mt. Lebanon (Section III co-champion), Penn-Trafford (Section III co-champion), and Trinity (Section II champion).

Butler, Penn-Trafford, Trinity, and Mt. Lebanon have qualified for state competition with their performances.

The WPIAL Rifle Individual Championships will be held on Thursday, February 9 at Dormont-Mt. Lebanon Sportsmen’s Club, and are set for an 11:00 a.m. start.

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