Feb 14, 2018 3 min read

Name: Selena Phillips

School: Waynesburg

Sport: Rifle

Class: Junior

Phillips’ week: With a score of 200-20x, Phillips earned a two-shot victory over the field to win the WPIAL Individual Rifle Championship Thursday at Dormont-Mt. Lebanon Sportsmen’s Club. The junior had the only perfect score in the tournament and that earned the program’s first gold medal.

It was Phillips’ second attempt to win gold in this event and improved on her 29th position in last year’s event. The win qualified her for the state rifle championship, which was held Tuesday at Frazier Simplex Range in Washington. Her placement will be announced in the coming weeks.

“I was nervous. There were nerves but I knew I could do it,” said Phillips, who also is an outfielder on the Waynesburg softball team. “I shot that way before but the trick is putting it all together at the right time. Anyone could have walked in there and did it. There are a lot of good shooters there who could walk out with 200-20x.”

Each shooter in the WPIAL event is given two targets and allowed 10 shots at each within a 20-minute time frame.

“It’s a whole other world with target shooting,” said Phillips, who shoots with her teammates at the home range: Waynesburg Sportsman’s Club. “Focus has a lot to do with it. I just breath a lot, clear my head. I try not to think of anything.”

Phillips was drafted into the sport by a friend in her freshman season.

“About a week into the tryouts, I fell in love with the sport,” she said. “And I’ve stayed with it ever since.”

No stranger to shooting: Phillips got her first rifle, a .22 pink-colored Christmas present, when she was just 5 years old.

“My uncle has some acreage and we went out there and shot,” she said. “We have 82 acres, and I hunt on that.”

Phillips downed an 8-point deer when she was just 10 years old. It’s the only one she’s gotten but not because of poor luck.

“I decided then that I would never shoot a deer under 8 points,” she said. “That was my first one. One buck. One shot.”

Phillips’ goal is to shoot in college and hopefully earn a scholarship.

“I don’t know if I can get one,” she said. “In college, you have to shoot from all three positions: kneeling, standing and prone. It’s just prone in high school. We’ll see how well I can do. I certainly hope (to earn a scholarship).”

Compiled by staff writer Joe Tuscano.