O-R Athlete of the Week: Riley Dunn, McGuffey
Name: Riley Dunn
School: McGuffey
Class: Sophomore
Sport: Rifle
Dunn’s week: The Highlanders’ sharpshooter became the first person from McGuffey in more than a decade to win the WPIAL rifle championship Thursday at the Dormont-Mt. Lebanon Sportsmen Club.
Dunn ended the tournament with a score of 200-19x, just ahead of Butler’s Brianna Bell, who shot 200-18x.
“I was confident I could win,” said Dunn, who is also on the Highlanders’ golf team. “I shoot all over the country with Frazier-Simplex and Mason-Dixon.”
Dunn is the sixth female to win the WPIAL title in the last seven years. Bethel Park’s Travis Zeis broke a streak of five straight female champions last year.
Dunn is McGuffey’s fifth champion in the event and first since John Hupp in 2011. The others were Rebekah Ashcroft (2008), Joe Nuzum (2006) and Wes Lauff (2005).
Four competitors finished with scores of 200-17x: Butler’s Hannah Beacon, Penn-Trafford’s Seth Baughman, Hempfield’s Lydia Dunn and Penn-Trafford’s Mallory McRae.
Also finishing in the top 16 and advancing to states were Trinity’s Lily McMahon, Waynesburg’s Taylor Burnfied, Upper St. Clair’s Jack Loomis, Armstrong’s Gracie Ruffner, Trinity’s Sierra Allison, Woodland Hills’ Morgan Malecki, Bethel Park’s Adam Colhoun Hempfield’s Alexia McCabe, Butler’s Hayleigh Gorog and Mt. Lebanon’s Alex Jackson.
Dunn earned an invitation to the “Team USA Shooting” Junior Olympics in 2021 and again in 2022. This year’s event will be held at Hillsdale College in Michigan in May.
Dunn has been shooting for four years.
“My parents put me in it when I was 12 years old to try it out and see if I liked it,” said Dunn. “I fell in love with it and made it my sport ever since. I like the feeling you get going into competition, meeting new friends and making new memories. It’s a pretty tight community so you get to know people real well.”
From X to 4-H: When she is not shooting or playing golf, Dunn does mostly home economics projects for 4-H.
“I cook and sew and do things like that,” said Dunn.
Dunning has won blue ribbon for her submissions in canning, sewing, baking and modeling. The latter event requires you to wear the clothes you make to be judged.”
Dunn wants to shoot in college but needs to find a school that also offers a major in forensic biology or forensic chemistry.
Compiled by Joe Tuscano
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