For as long as John Husk can remember, the rifle teams at Trinity have peaked at the best time. Now.

Unlike some other schools, his athletes don't shoot until winter sports begin in mid-November.

“It takes us a little bit of time to get everyone in the groove and shooting good,” said Husk, in his 28th year as coach. “If you shoot before the season, and you start shooting really good scores early, you get bored with those scores and you're not as fired up as you used to be at the beginning of the season.”

When his group shot a collective 800 twice in matches over a single competition week not long ago, something no other WPIAL rifle team did during that same time frame, he said, he knew the development plan was right on schedule.

“Everybody was getting into their own,” Husk said.

Still such ideal timing alone wouldn't result in a blowout on the championship stage.

Expectations for the annual WPIAL team championships, held Tuesday afternoon at Dormont-Mt. Lebanon Sportsmen's Club, are always that final scores will be close. This edition of the event proved no different — all seven participating teams tied for first in their respective sections during the regular season to qualify. And the Hillers eked out a title when they broke a tiebreak in the finals with three-time reigning champions Woodland Hills, 800-69x to 800-68x, by virtue of their first reserve shooter having hit the bull's-eye once more than their counterpart.

“I had an idea how close we were,” Husk said. “I knew if it got to a tie, we could win. It was just hoping we got to the tie.”

By finishing in second place, the Wolverines missed out on being the first program to four-peat since Trinity did from 1994-97. Trinity, Woodland Hills, Hempfield and Butler all advanced to the state competition.

Trinity's top nine competitors all finished with cumulative scores greater than 100 points. No other team in the seven-deep field had more than seven individuals hit that mark.

“Maybe this will kind of get us back in the groove because it's been a couple years since we won a championship,” Husk said.

It is the Washington County school's first title since 2011, but 16th overall. According to Husk, he has served as coach for 13 of them. Defunct Munhall High School is the all-time leader in the team competition with 23 first-place finishes.

Many team members returned from the Trinity squad that failed to qualify for the postseason in 2016, like Krista Huffman and junior Sarah Hritz, who led all entrants with scores of 100-10x, but there were also a number of first-year shooters, such as senior Chris Knabb and freshman Justin Walther, whose clutch performances helped raise a district champion plaque.

“You just don't know who's going to be on your team until they start shooting,” Husk said.

Hempfield (7-1) fielded just three seniors this season, but managed a third-place finish with a score of 799-65x. Jordan Miller and Emily O'Neill both finished with scores of 100-10x.

Co-coach Tom Miller said the team's main goal every season is to win the WPIAL title, regardless of who they have. The other goal is to ensure the program will continue on for the following season.

“The team was up and down throughout the year,” Miller said. “Young, lack of focus and lack of confidence.”

Both Miller and co-coach Pat Brigode credited positivity for the team's solid performance when it mattered most in light of such season-long inconsistency.

“Make them believe that they got a shot at winning this thing,” Miller said. “Every kid in this room has the ability to shoot. It's making them believe they can do it.”

Miller said some perspective returning shooters who are seniors decided not to come back this season and another was ineligible.

Many of the marksmen who competed Monday, five per participating school, will return to the same range Thursday for the WPIAL individual tournament. Miller expressed confidence each of Hempfield's shooters will be able to focus on what's in front of them.

Junior Jordan Miller finished seventh at individuals a year ago. Of returning shooters who competed at WPIALs as individuals in 2016, she had the fifth best score.

Jasper Wilson is a freelance writer.

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