The Penn-Trafford rifle team is a co-ed squad that has gone undefeated in the 2019-2020 season so far, recently beating Butler’s team for the first time.
Practices are two days a week while the team also participates in matches Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Brieanna Deyarmin, a senior, stated,
“This year since there are only four seniors we are really relying on the juniors and underclassman to help with the team score and rely on everyone on the team to do their part. Everyone has been encouraging to one another and we ́ve embraced a new stress-free memo just that we are going to go out there, get on the line, and shoot, just how we would any day of the week whether it be a practice or a match. We go out and give it our best because, in the end, we are just having fun and thatś all we can do!¨
The day before the match, the coach sends out an email with a list of 10 students who will be competing, with several alternates bringing the students going to the match up to 14.
The students drive themselves to the matches, as the school does not provide buses for them. Then the coach assigns 10 shooters to different relay stations to shoot with normally four students shooting at a time.
The coaches sit behind the students, offering advice, spotting the students, and adjusting the scopes. After the 10 students shoot, the best eight scores are tallied up, with a perfect score being 800. Then, the captains of the respective teams come together to score up the tallies.
Jason Pernick, sophomore, is the co-captain of the team. He got his start early.
“I started practicing rifle this summer before my freshman year and I caught onto it quickly. I started shooting every week before the season started and before I knew it I was shooting 100s,” Pernick said. “After my freshman season I was the second freshman to travel with the team for every match, so I continued practicing all year round, and my coach saw my commitment to the sport. Being a sophomore, I wasn’t expecting to be chosen for co-captain, but I’m doing my best to help organize and run the team as well as being a leader of the team for the other shooters. Lexie [Ferrulo] and I make a great team and it has been a very fun and successful season so far.”
Lexie Ferrulo, a senior, is the current captain of the team and has been a part of the team for three years.
¨I say definitely go for it because one thing is if you’re new and you come and shoot, worried about not being that good it’s not a big deal because it is an individual type of thing,” Ferrulo said. “The coaches pick the people to be put in the ̈top 10 ̈ and then if you’re just joining don’t worry if you feel like your not doing well, you won’t be bringing the team down! You can just work at your own pace and not stress, come and shoot for fun!”
Jake Weinstein, A&E Editor