Xavier’s Genna Pieper a one-girl team

CEDAR RAPIDS - Xavier sophomore Genna Pieper is making a place for herself as the only girl on the trapshooting team.

Pieper first experienced trap shooting as a child when her grandfather worked at a trapshooting range.

'My family and I went on vacation to Minnesota, and my grandpa took me to shoot for the first time,” Pieper said. 'I liked it a lot and decided to go out for trap.”

The Xavier team practices at Otter Creek, preparing for its first meet,

As a freshman, Pieper experienced trapshooting as a team sport. She was one of two girls on the team.

'At the beginning of the season I was really nervous because I didn't know anyone,” she said. 'I had never done trapshooting with a team before, and I expected to be the only girl. The people on the team were really nice and helped me get situated.

'I made a lot of new friends through trap shooting.”

Schools from all over Iowa compete against each other at the meets every year. While Pieper was nervous about competition as a freshman, it now her favorite part of the sport. One thing that makes trapshooting different from a lot of other sports is there are individual scores as well as team scores.

Pieper enjoys seeing how she improves by herself, as well as the team.

The trapshooting team will begin its season this spring, and hopes to compete at the state meet this summer.