Rifle is a sport in which one person can have a big day and beat all the top competitors. And this L-L League season was no different, with a relative unknown shooting himself to the top mark and the individual championship.

Ian Ocasio of Conestoga Valley, who did not rank among the league's top 10 marksmen this season, came through with a score of 199 in the L-L championship meet to beat the rest of the field.

Among those Ocasio beat was last year's league meet champion, Jess Crills of Ephrata. Crills was another shooter who was not among the top marksmen last year but surprised the field to capture the medal with a perfect score of 200.

"That is one of the great things about rifle. Even though there are shooters who are consistently near the top, on any one day a person can step up and beat everyone, and Ian did that this year," said Beth Newill, rifle chair for the Lancaster-Lebanon League.

Manheim Township won the regular season title for the second consecutive season, with a 9-1 record. The Blue Streaks also won the post-season team title.

Crills, a senior, was named the league's top shooter for the regular season with her 99.7 overall accuracy mark.

The league, which includes teams at Township, Ephrata, Garden Spot, CV, Manheim Central and Elizabethtown, shoots air rifles from a distance of 10 meters. Each person shoots from the prone position. Ten members of each team shoot and the top five scores are recorded, with a perfect score being 500.

If a match is tied, teams compare the highest score from their sixth shooter or beyond until the tie is broken.

In her third year of shooting, Crills made a major impact. Her accuracy rate of 99.7 percent was the second highest in the last 10 years, with only former Manheim Central shooter Ryan Guffy, who is now shooting at the college level, recording a higher rate of 99.9 a few years ago.

The score was based on nine meets, with the lowest score tossed out. Crills beat the next best competitor, Kelly Siedhof of Garden Spot, by .4 percent.

"I just wanted to be an All-Star this season; I did not expect to be the best overall. I knew I was shooting like crazy this year, but I didn't know how well everyone else was doing," said Crills. "I started crying when I found out the awards for marksman and average. I feel so blessed. God helped me find my niche. It means more than any other award."

The top 11 marksmen this season as voted on by the coaches were: Crills, Siedhof, Patrick Skelly (MT), Connor Valan (MT), Kyle Walter (MT), Ben Emrick (Elizabethtown), Angela Gordon (Manheim Central), Kristie Rathman (Ephrata), Heather Alexander (MC), Steph Brubaker (Ephrata), and Amanda Kidd (MC).

Newill said she hopes this sport will continue to grow, but for now the league seems set to continue with six teams. She said there is no district or state tournament in the sport due to a disparity in weapons.

"We have been using air rifles since 2000, but many schools in the state are still using .22s they shoot indoors at a rifle range," she said. "There are just not enough teams in the sport."