EVANS CITY — They call themselves the Fab Five, and they lived up to that billing on a national stage.

Five members of the Evans City scholastic trap shooting team placed third in the Intermediate Division at the Grand Shoot in Sparta, Ill., Aug. 4 and 5.

Evans City's Chad Miller and Danielle Green, Connoquenessing's Eric Peffer, Mars' Travis Walsh and Industry's Damien St. George got a piece of 914 out of 1,000 clay pigeons to finish behind teams from Missouri (937) and Arkansas (923).

The event included teams from 40 states.

The Intermediate Division is reserved for youths in sixth through eighth grade and in their first year on a scholastic team.

"The way the kids shot, it was phenomenal," said coach Ron Osselborn. "For five first-year shooters, finishing third was far beyond what was expected of them."

St. George and Miller each hit 188 out of 200 targets, while Green and Walsh hit 183 each and Peffer hit 172.

"I was very nervous at the national shoot, but ended up shooting two times better than I thought I would," said Green, who also competes in the Butler County Trap League.

"Nationals was just a bunch of people looking to have fun and shoot well, and that's what I wanted to do," said Peffer, who turned 14 last Monday.

Evans City's bronze medal helped the state of Pennsylvania bring home a total of three medals, with a team from Warren winning gold and a team from Library earning a bronze.

Tennessee topped the field with four medals.

Before traveling to Illinois, the scholastic team competed at the regional shoot in Library, where it placed first.

Then, it was on to the Pennsylvania State Shoot, which was held in Elysburg, Northumberland County, where it placed third.

"Technically, any team that competes at the state shoot can then go on to nationals," said Osselborn. "But I've always said that if we finish third, we'd move on."

"I knew we could do it," said Walsh of placing third at states. "But at the same time, I was a bit surprised we did well enough to go to nationals."

Green's mindset entering the state event most likely reflects that of many first-year scholastic shooters.

"I was very excited to be there," she said. "But I also had a goal to get over 60 (out of 100 targets)."

Evans City's scholastic team featured about 25 competitors this year.

"Our youth trap league includes three teams and begins every year in April," said Tim Green, who runs the youth trap league and assists Osselborn with the scholastic team. "After about three weeks, we start scouring the three teams to find the best shooters to be part of our scholastic program.

"So the youth league acts almost like a farm team," he added.

For some, like Miller, trap shooting on the state and national level was a new concept.

"I didn't even know such a thing existed," he said.

The Evans City Youth Trap League included between 65 to 75 shooters this year.

"Every year, the number of kids shooting with us gets bigger and bigger," said Tim Green.

And Miller knows why.

"It's all about having a fun time," he said. "There's a lot of great people there and I love to shoot. It just all fits together."

For details about joining the team, call Osselborn at 724-789-7238.