Hempfield wins 6th WPIAL rifle championship

By: Bill Hartlep
Tuesday, February 8, 2022 | 7:59 PM

Hempfield’s rifle team was right on target Tuesday … in the absolute middle of the target.

Boasting 100s across the board, the Spartans celebrated a sixth WPIAL title.

Senior Amanda Hardman had a perfect score of 100 with 10 center shots to help Hempfield win the team championship at Dormont-Mt. Lebanon Sportsmen’s Club in Canonsburg.

Hempfield, which also won WPIAL titles in 2010, ‘13, ‘18, ‘19 and ‘21, posted a score of 800-64x to edge runner-up Butler (800-59x).

“It was one of the prettiest things I’ve ever watched,” Hempfield coach Jason Wilkinson said. “Every kid on the team shot 100, which is something I’ve never seen before. We had 10 good (scores) to pick from.”

Also competing for Hempfield were Lydia Dunn (100-9x), Tyler Heatley (100-9x), Alexia McCabe (100-9x), Seth Maloney (100-8x), Logan McKivens (100-7x), Paige Roberts (100-6x), Matt Steiner (100-6x), Claire Martz (100-6x) and Leah Podlassewski (100-5x).

“I beat into their head all year that you have to be a team,” Wilkinson said. “To watch it come together, they couldn’t have put it together at a better time.

“I couldn’t be any more proud of those kids.”

Trinity (797-53x), Bethel Park (796-57x), Mt. Lebanon (706-52x), Upper St. Clair (796-48x), Waynesburg (795-46x), Armstrong (793-53x) and McGuffey (793-47x) rounded out the standings.

The top two teams from each section qualified for the WPIAL championship. Ten shooters from each school competed, and the top eight shooters made up the team score.

The Spartans finished the regular season 12-2 overall and 8-2 in Section 3, sharing section champion honors with Mt. Lebanon (12-2, 8-2).

The WPIAL individual rifle championships will be held Thursday, also at Dormont-Mt. Lebanon Sportsmen’s Club.

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.

Tags: Hempfield