USA Shooting News End of the Year 2018 by USA Shooting

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USAS Staff Chief Executive Officer Keith Enlow keith.enlow@usashooting.org, ext. 4630 Director of Marketing Communications Kevin Neuendorf kevin.neuendorf@usashooting.org, ext. 4605 Director of Operations Pete Carson pete.carson@usashooting.org, ext. 4897 Senior Business Development Manager Events/Donors Patsy Woods patsy.woods@usashooting.org, ext. 4883 Sr. Manager of High Performance Alex Szablewski alex.szablewski@usashooting.org, ext. 4882 Interim National Rifle Coach Bob Foth bob.foth@usashooting.org, ext. 4881 National Pistol Coach Jason Turner jason.turner@usashooting.org Director of Youth and Coaching Programs Stacy Weiland stacy.weiland@usashooting.org

Events Manager Jared Esquivel jared.esquivel@usashooting.org Associate Director of Media and Public Relations Jessica Delos Reyes jessica.delosreyes@usashooting.org, ext. 4896 National Shotgun Coach Jay Waldron jay.waldron@usashooting.org., 719-579-0163 Membership & Merchandise Manager Amber Aragon amber.aragon@usashooting.org, ext. 4743 Shotgun Range Manager Sharee Waldron sharee.waldron@usashooting.org Chief Financial Officer Penny Miller penny.miller@usashooting.org, ext. 4887 Team Operations Coordinator Reya Kempley reya.kempley@usashooting.org Editors Jessica Delos Reyes, Reya Kempley, Sharee Waldron, Kevin Neuendorf Designers Jessica Delos Reyes On the cover: (Top) Women’s Skeet medalists at the 2018 World Championship: Kim Rhode, Caitlin Connor and Amber English. (Below) Men’s Skeet World Champion Vincent Hancock.

USA Shooting News will be published two times in 2018. USA Shooting is the national governing body for Olympic Shooting sports in the United States. USA Shooting News is produced as a service to international shooters, coaches, officials and media who cover Olympic-style shooting. Shooters featured in USA Shooting News magazine may be photographed without eye protection. These are posed photographs using unloaded guns and do not represent actual competition. USA Shooting encourages all shooters to use proper eye and ear protection when shooting. Inclusion of advertisements in USA Shooting does not constitute endorsement of advertised products or services by USA Shooting, its staff or its sponsors.

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

Carey Garrison made history as the youngest competitor to ever compete on a USA Shooting Team at a World Championship at just age 13. The Junior Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Trap athlete finished in 10th place at the World Championship in Changwon, South Korea - her first international competition.

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

USA Shooting News Contents End of the Year 2018 Pantone 289

News and notes: staff hires and moves, a race car, additions to the board and kim rhode elected as chairman of issf athlete committee

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23 more than 200 athletes competed at the usa shooting national championships for rifle and pistol

12 28 usa shooting national championships for shotgun: battling each other, the conditions and a tune-up prior to championship of the americas

national junior olympic championships for shotgun returned to colorado springs

championship of the americas: us athletes picked up 39 medals, eight olympic quotas in guadalajara, mexico

issf world championship recap with reports from changwon, south korea

45 Pictured: Mindy Miles (left) battles Ali Weisz (right) for Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Air

Rifle supremacy at Championship of the Americas.

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

Director’s Page

Looking Back at the Past Year By: Keith Enlow USA Shooting CEO

Hello USA Shooting Fans! I can hardly believe that I have been seated as the new Chief Executive Officer of USA Shooting for a year. Again, I can’t tell you how humbling it is to represent the United States Shooting Team and I hope that you each know that our USA Olympic and Paralympic athletes would make you proud. It is an unbelievable honor to be representing the best American shooters in Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun. Our team continues to grow, and USA Shooting is on a path of needed improvements across the board. As I mentioned earlier to you in a previous issue, the team is focused in three primary improvement pillars, including Sport Exposure & Resource Generation, Improved Youth Participation and Performance Improvement. I’d like to take this opportunity to share many of these improvements and some areas where I believe you will each see the change happening within our team. The first improvement area our team is focused on is Performance and “Pride and Precision” as the United States Olympic and Paralympic Governing Body. This is a theme that resonates with our athletes, staff, coaches and volunteers as we focus on Performance Improvement. Our Olympic Training

Photo by: Nicolo Zangirolami/ISSF.

facilities for Rifle and Pistol, as well as our Shotgun Range at Fort Carson have never looked better. I know many of you have seen this improvement. This is extremely important for our athletes as they focus on performing at their utmost best. Performance is critically important for the growth of our sport. Our Olympic Shotgun sports continue their winning tradition, and it was great to see our Rifle and Pistol teams performing well recently at the World Championship in Changwon, South Korea and the Championship of the Americas in Guadalajara where our collective team has now taken a total of 12 quotas that are needed for sending our athletes for the upcoming Olympic 2020 Games. We also made strategically needed changes in our coaching leadership. It was determined that our Olympic National coaches

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

needed to reside here at the Olympic Training Facilities and we now have a new National Shotgun Coach, Jay Waldron; we have a new National Pistol Coach, Jason Turner; and we are continuing our search for a new Rifle National Coach which we are hopeful will be complete by year end. We also will be hiring a new Paralympic Team Manager for our Paralympic Team. Although these organizational changes are difficult, I truly believe they are needed and will continue to help improve the support for our athletes and performances continue to improve as we head towards the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The second area mentioned needing improvement is raising awareness for our Olympic sport and cause to gain the needed Resource Generation. As many of you are aware, USA

Shooting is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that receives no funding from the government. It is through donations, direct mail giving, fundraising events, and competitions where we are raising the needed capital to support our fellow Olympic and Paralympic shooting athletes. To continue to raise awareness for our cause, we launched our “2020 Vision” campaign to improve sport exposure and have created over the past nine months athlete videos we are sharing via web and social media channels. We also are hosting fundraising events with unbelievably giving individuals. Earlier this year, Butch Eller completed a successful National Sporting Clay Cup, we completed a sporting clays tournament at the Fork Farm with support from Jim Cogdell, and a dinner/auction at the Childress Winery hosted by Richard Childress. We also have some exciting events planned for 2019 as we look ahead including the “Turkeys for Tokyo” event partnering with the National Wildlife Turkey Federation (NWTF) in Nashville in February to kick off their annual convention. In addition, we are doing monthly membership drives to grow our sport and are even getting creative with new programs such as the Round Up for USA Shooting

Program I challenge each of you to join. The other area our team has focused hard on is partnering with the outdoor industry to sponsor our USA Shooting team. Many have come on board including sponsors such as Federal Ammunition, White Flyer, Beretta, Eley, the National Shooting Sports Federation (NSSF), NRA as a partner, SAAMI, Perazzi, SKB cases, Podium and Brazen Sports. Lastly, we are focusing on our membership and looking to 2019 to drive valuable opportunities for joining USA Shooting through memberonly discounts. All that said, the “call to action” content combined with fundraising and sponsorships is just barely supporting our team. We are still short of our needed funding goals and I would ask that each of you

continue to share with your friends and colleagues that our athletes still need your support. The last area I will address is raising awareness to preserve our shooting sports. We have focused heavily on Youth Development and are partnering with many of America’s leaders in youth shooting sports. This includes partnerships with the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation, the Scholastic Clay Target Program, Civilian Marksmanship Program, NCAA Collegiate programs, NSSF and NRA to grow the youth shooting sports. We need to continue to focus on our youth programs and therefore, have reinvigorated our Youth Development efforts by focusing again on our Certified Training Centers (CTCs) and

growing our Coaching Programs. We recently received a grant to kick off a “train the trainer” program to grow the coaching availability for the shotgun sports, partnering with the Midway Foundation. We still have much to do to grow the youth participation in the Olympic shooting disciplines, yet by partnering with these organizations, I am encouraged our team is headed in the right direction. I ask that each of you continue to look for USA Shooting at your local matches and clubs. If you want to become a Certified Training Center, I would also ask that you reach out to our Director of Coaching and Youth Development, Stacy Weiland, at stacy.weiland@usashooting.org. We still have many challenges ahead for our team,

yet I am encouraged by the direction for USA Shooting. Please continue to support our team and know that I, and our staff, are committed to continuing to grow and support our shooting athletes like they never have been before. I continue to be excited about the direction of USA Shooting and look forward to meeting many of you at our competitions and events.

Athlete Message: Caitlin Connor

A Wave of Pride and Commitment Highlight 2018 By: Caitlin Connor 2018 Women’s Skeet World Champion

Caitlin Connor has had quite the year in 2018. Not only did she win two World Cup medals, she won the World Championship title in Women’s Skeet over the best competitors in the world - including her own teammates that filled out the rest of the podium. Connor reflects on the year that was not only a roaring success for her, but her teammates across the shooting disciplines as well. Hello everyone and welcome to the 2018 Year in Review. I would like to start off by stating that the Olympic Journey is impossible without the help of our donors, friends, family and volunteers. Your unwavering support throughout the years leading up to the Olympic Games is greatly appreciated. Our year started off with an anticipated and welcomed change when our new CEO Keith Enlow was hired. Mr. Enlow came to USA Shooting and provided something special to this organization. He gave the athletes something to believe in and something to work for. He created an atmosphere that is more inviting for sponsors, and more conducive for athletes to perform at their highest level. He also provided direction and leadership for the staff of USA Shooting, something that was needed more than anything. I believe that as our organization continues to grow under the direction of Mr. Enlow we will prosper again. I have seen a wave of pride and commitment in our athletes this year that

has not occurred for a while. It is reflected in the performance that our Junior and Open athletes have demonstrated all year. Between myself and my teammates Amber English and Kim Rhode we were able to bring home 12 of 18 total individual medals, a historic podium sweep at World Championship, and two Olympic quotas. We rocked it this year — great job ladies! Michael McPhail created a spark at the World Championships by taking the bronze medal and winning a quota spot in the Men’s Three-Position Rifle event. This spark ignited a flame for our Rifle and Pistol program leading into the Championships of the Americas. James Hall, Mindy Miles, Dempster Christenson, Lexi Lagan, Sarah Beard and George Norton all brought home quotas in their respective events. Hearing our National Anthem playing that many times made all of us proud. Frank Thompson claimed our second quota spot for Men’s Skeet while at the

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

CAT Games equaling the finals World Record with a 59/60. K a y l e Browning secured a quota spot for Women’s Trap at the CAT games while winning a gold medal. Earlier in the year, Kayle’s teammates Ashley Carroll and Aeriel Skinner set World Records in Guadalajara, Mexico while taking 1st and 3rd respectively. In Tucson, Arizona at our fourth World Cup our mixed teams stole the show with Corey Cogdell-Unrein/Jake Wallace winning gold and Kayle Browning/Will Hinton taking the bronze. Vincent Hancock struck gold at every competition he went to

Vincent Hancock takes a selfie on the field at the World Championship in South Korea with the Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Skeet medalists following their historic podium sweep.

this year, setting World Records left and right, missing a target here and there, claiming the top of the podium before he even stepped on the plane. The year was filled with countless other individual medals, team medals, mixed team medals and personal bests. Our Paralympic athletes made some noise this last year with Taylor Farmer and John Joss winning medals at the World Shooting Para Sport World Cup in Chateauroux, France. In addition, John secured a quota spot for the 2020 Olympics in the Mixed 50m Rifle Prone SH1 event. Paralympic Shotgun was a much anticipated and welcomed addition to our sport. Becky Noble represented the United States in the Para Trap World Championships in Lonato, Italy this year. Becky - I applaud you

and look forward to your success in the years to come. The strength of our Juniors across the board is something to take notice of. At the Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany rifle athletes William Shaner and Morgan Phillips claimed gold medals in the 50m Prone events. At the Junior Grand Prix in Por-

petto, Italy our Junior shotgun athletes claimed some well-deserved hardware. Our Junior shotgun team raised the Star Spangled Banner 7 of 10 times. Maddie Bernau, Dale Royer, and Austen Smith claimed individual gold medals in their events. At the World Championship, our Juniors continued to show their strength. William Shaner, Henry Leverett, Logan Lucas, Nic Moschetti, Katelyn Abeln and Austen Smith all claimed individual medals at the World Championship. Here we have the present and the future of our organization kicking butt and taking names all over the world. We do our best every day to work harder and be better than we were yesterday. USA Shooting does their best to support their athletes, but often times it is not enough. Coming into the 2018 season, we learned that the USOC was cutting back their support of USA Shooting. It started by the USOC cutting all funding to the Pistol program, followed by the elimination of our Resident Athlete Program at the Colorado Springs facility.

The USOC effectively pulled the lifeline that USA Shooting could provide to athletes. All of the athletes feel the pain. Many athletes were displaced and forced to rely heavily on friends and family for housing arrangements. Many athletes that resided at the Colorado Springs facility had to take up other jobs in order to make ends meet after stipends were eliminated. This takes away from the necessary training time that is required to develop into a world-class athlete. Even though we had a fantastic year and secured many quota spots, I still wonder how good it would have been if every athlete had the support they needed and deserves. It takes a determined athlete to accomplish the goals we set for ourselves, our careers are filled with highs and lows sometimes we win and sometimes we lose, but we never give up. We keep working despite any setback. Never underestimate the heart of a champion. Bring on Tokyo - weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re ready.

Caitlin Connor

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

In Memoriam

USA Shooting Mourns Passing of Rifle Great Ernie Vande Zande The USA Shooting community is once again mourning the death of one of its greatest competitors and ambassadors with the passing of rifle standout Ernest J. Vande Zande. Vande Zande passed away September 29 at the age of 70 at his home after a protracted battle with pancreatic cancer. Vande Zande was born April 23, 1948 in McCook, Nebraska. Along with a brilliant shooting career, Vande Zande was known for the care and compassion he extended for those closest to him and especially the shooting community he loved. In 1999, he established an endowment fund carrying his mother’s name (Wyatt Vande Zande Foundation), to provide funding to organizations with educational programs for battered women. He attended Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky and competed in the sport of rifle where he earned four year All American honors, and four National Championships. He graduated in 1971 with a degree in Business Administration. He was inducted into the Murray State University Sports Hall of Fame in 1988. To his death, he continued to help and support the Racer rifle team behind his signature line of “It’s great at State.” He left an indelible

Ernie Vande Zande pictured during his time with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit. Vande Zande also pictured front row, third from right. Photos courtesy of USAMU.

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

mark that will stand the test of time. “I don’t know how many people asked me who is that guy always saying, ‘It’s great at State!’” said Alan Lollar, current head coach for the Murray State Rifle Team. “Ernie was more than an alumnus and there is no doubt he was proud of being from Murray State. Ernie and Bill Beard spearheaded a fundraising campaign that has meant the world to our team, but he was more than a fundraiser. He was a great shooter that tirelessly helped any shooter who would listen and show commitment to excellence. He was my mentor, always there to listen, give an opinion, but always support. I would not be here without him. Most of all, he was a friend, one of the best people I have ever known. If it is ‘Great at State,’ it’s because Ernie helped make it that way.” To honor Vande Zande, MSU will create the first individual rifle award in school history, which will celebrate the highest prone average rifle athlete each year. Vande Zande’s involvement impacting the sport he loves is nothing new. As project director, he was instrumental in the raising of the current USA Shooting headquarters and shooting range in Colorado Springs. He’s seen first-hand the im-

pact of youth shooting when he served as Director of NRA Junior Olympic Shooting Program from 1982-88 and while serving as Assistant National Rifle Coach from 1986-1991. His last mission in the sport was serving as the fundraising chairman for the Lones Wigger Legacy Project that helped raise over $400,000 while creating a fitting celebration and tribute to America’s most distinguished shooting athlete. The fundraising effort has created opportunities to help support Junior athletes well into the future, and an effort that wouldn’t have been nearly as successful absent Vande Zande’s drive and leadership. “In 1988, I tried out for the Olympic Team and came painfully close,” said former USA Shooting athlete, coach and employee Dave Johnson. “I lost control of my heart rate and focus and shot a poor Final. I left the sport to pursue a family business and a future outside the sport. About three months later, I got a phone call from Ernie. He asked what I was doing and when I would be back in training. I told him I was going to move on with life after failing in the tryouts. At that point, he started yelling at me ‘Why would you quit when you simply needed to get serious about a mental skills

Vande Zande helped lead the effort to create and fundraise for the Lones Wigger Legacy Endowment. Vande Zande is pictured speaking at the ceremony in 2017. Photo by: Avery McGlenn

game! You’ve got just one thing to do!’ I was back in Colorado a few months later and worked a year straight on mental skills and control. I made the Olympic Team in 1992 mainly because of that phone call. “Ernie continued mentoring me for years in competition, the Army, investing, career decisions, and as a coach,” Johnson added. “Ernie was passionate about the USA Team and developing athletes. He often asked me what he could do and what was needed. Ultimately, he joined the coaching staff as a volunteer assistant teaching wind, mental skills, training strategies and lots of other life skills. His support of the team included time, passion, and financial help. He paid for training camps, guns, testing, travel — mostly anonymously. Ernie was a true mentor and friend to me and many others. In an age when many expect

things to be given to them, often with no appreciation for where support comes from, I hope there are those that learn from and live his example going forward.” As a competitive shooter, Vande Zande more than held his own as well, earning the nickname as the “human benchrest” throughout his distinguished career. In 1975, Vande Zande won a gold medal in rifle in the Pan American Games in Mexico City, Mexico. He followed that with a gold and two silvers in the 1979 Pan American Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Also, in 1979, Vande Zande won a silver medal at the World Air Gun Championships in Seoul, South Korea. In 1981, Vande Zande took five golds and set two world records at the Championship of the Americas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A year later, he took the bronze at the World Shooting Championships in Caracas, Ven-

ezuela. In 1984, he missed qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Team by four-tenths of a point. In total, Vande Zande claimed 36 team and individual championships and set more than 200 national records in shooting. An International Distinguished shooter, Vande Zande was the Smallbore Rifle Prone Champion at Camp Perry in 1980 and earned his place on nine Dewar teams. In August 1971, he was commissioned as an Army officer. During his military career he served at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) at Ft. Benning, Georgia, Company and Compound Commander at Camp To Bong Son, Korea. After 23 years of active and reserve service, he retired as a Major. In addition, Vande Zande served as the Athlete Advisory Council Representative for Shooting to the United States Olympic Committee from 1988 to 1996. He was also appointed to the United States Shooting Team Foundation Board of Directors in 1990 and served on the NRA International Competitions Committee from 1988 to 1994. He served as U.S. Shooting Team Leader at the 1996 Olympic Games.

To honor Ernie Vande Zande, donations can be made to the Murray State University Rifle Team Endowment or to the Lones Wigger Legacy Endowment online via a link on our website, or by mail: Make Check Payable to: USA Shooting In the check Memo Line: Write in Lones Wigger Endowment/EVZ Mailing Address: USA Shooting, Attn: Amber Aragon, 1 Olympic Plaza, Colorado Springs CO 80909 End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

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USA Shooting News | End of the Year 2018

News and Notes

Jared Esquivel Joins USAS As Manager of Events

USA Shooting welcomed Jared Esquivel (Lone Tree, Colorado) as its new Events Manager on July 23. Esquivel came to USA Shooting from Haute Route North America where he was the Logistics Manager, re-

sponsible for delivering quality bike races throughout the United States. Prior to this, he also worked as the Event Services Coordinator for USA Cycling, worked in their membership department, and worked as the Events Intern at USA Boxing. “I have always been involved in sports and I wanted to continue that in my career,” said Esquivel. “Working with two other NGBs before this helped introduce me to the Olympic Movement, which is something that I have grown passionate about. I was ready for a new challenge, and coming from a family of

hunters and shooters, I felt like this would be a job that I could relate to more than my previous experiences.” Esquivel assumed the Events Manager position after Alex Szablewski was promoted to Senior Manager of High Performance. Esquivel’s first event with USA Shooting was the National Championships for Shotgun. “The biggest challenge for me was learning a new sport and the different processes and procedures; doing things a certain way and why they are done that way,” said Esquivel. “It has been a lot to take in and analyze but everybody from USAS

Staff to athletes to parents and volunteers have all been more than patient with me. I have truly appreciated how everybody has been in explaining and willing to lend a hand. “I hope that when people see a USAS match, they feel compelled to sign up because they know that they will be well organized, well run, and fun experiences for them,” Esquivel said. “I want to make a difference by successfully growing the experience of the athletes at our matches.”

Partner Brazen Sports Helps Land USAS On Trans Am Series Race Car USA Shooting made an appearance in the final races of the year in the Trans Am Series, thanks to its partnership with Brazen Sports and the generosity of Coleman Motorsports and the #87 3-Dimensional Services Group Ford Mustang, driven by founder Doug Peterson. As the official timekeeper of USA Shooting, Brazen Sports founder Eddie Rimanelli presented an opportunity for the shooting sports to gain additional exposure during the Trans Am Series and the result was a

custom-wrapped race car featuring the USA Shooting brand. Additionally, we had the opportunity to showcase key supporting partners that will be along for the ride including Brazen Sports, Federal Premium, Resource One, NSSF’s Project ChildSafe, White Flyer and Krieghoff, who are all stepping up in a big way to support America’s Shooting Team. Champion pistol shooter and lead Brazen Sports brand ambassador, Max Michel, will also be featured on the car as well.

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

“We’re thrilled by the opportunity to combine the passion and precision of marksmanship and motorsports to support America’s

shooting team in pursuit of gold at the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” says Rimanelli.

News and Notes

Olympic Bronze Medalist Jason Turner Named National Pistol Coach USA Shooting is proud to announce that 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Jason Turner (Rochester, New York) has officially been named National Pistol Coach. Turner, who won bronze in Men’s Air Pistol at the 2008 Olympic Games, has served as National Assistant Coach of the program since he stepped back from international competition in 2015. “Jason took the helm of this program just prior to the World Championship in September and has shown he has the vision and leadership this program needs,” said USA Shooting CEO Keith Enlow. “With the success shown at the recent World Championships – particularly with our Junior athletes – as well as at the Championship of the Americas, we’re excited to see how far he can take this program.”

Jason Turner (back row, right) pictured with Pistol athletes at the Championship of the Americas in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Turner, 43, started out shooting competitively in 1987 with the Rochester (New York) Rifle Club. He started out shooting Rifle but made the switch to Pistol four years later. His devotion to the sport led to his parents building a makeshift range in the basement, then eventually to Colorado Springs where he would

live and train to compete in the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. With the removal of his signature event of Men’s 50m Free Pistol from the Olympic program, Turner saw the opportunity to take the next step in his shooting career. “I want to make sure there are more Olympic medalists in Pistol for the

United States for years to come,” said Turner. “We need to continue to develop the Open-level people we have who just need that little extra to consistently make international Finals, and then we’ll work towards medals. There’s a ton of potential in our Juniors who’ve been shooting so well. I owe a huge ‘thanks’ to all of the coaches who’ve helped grow our young talent - our Junior program is as strong as it’s been in the last 15 or 20 years! Especially in the sport of Pistol, experience means a lot – and that includes learning to win and compete at a high level. My goal is to pass on everything I’ve learned in my career and have athletes comfortable enough to ask those questions because I’ve been in virtually every situation at the international level.”

Athletes Compete at Inaugural WSPS Para Trap World Championship and Grand Prix American Para Trap athletes competed for the first time at the WSPS Para Trap World Championship and Grand Prix in October in Lonato, Italy. Below are the results from this inaugural event. Congrats to all the athletes helping ring in a new era in Paralympic shooting sports. PT1 Mixed Seated - Becky Noble - 69/125 (pictured) PT2 Mixed Standing Grand Prix - Jacob Butdorf -- 59/75 PT3 Mixed Standing Grand Prix - Emma Moore - 55/75

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

News and Notes

Six-Time Olympic Medalist Kim Rhode Elected Chairman of ISSF Athlete Committee tee and appoint additional members and the Athletes Committee Chairman. The Athletes election was conducted during the World Championship. The election was supervised by the World Championship Jury of Appeal. Vote counting was conducted on September 11 after the close of voting and was witnessed by the The ISSF Executive Comoutgoing Athletes Commitmittee met at the World tee Chairman, Abhinav BinChampionship in all events dra, and Danka Bartekova, a in Changwon, South Korea. member of the IOC Athletes The primary purpose of the Commission. The official meeting was to receive the vote count was presented official vote count for the in a sealed envelope to the v02_Vogel Horizontal Page(with bleed0.25) W 8.5xH5.6875 in.pdf 1 2018-11-17 05:21:55 election of the members of ISSF President during the Exthe ISSF Athletes Commitecutive Committee meeting.

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

The President presented the election results to Committee members. The four athletes who received the highest number of votes were automatically elected. The athletes who were elected were Kim Rhode, Daniele Di Spigno of Italy, Christian Reitz of Germany and Cassio Rippel of Brazil. To elect a Chairman, the Executive Committee selected the athlete who received the highest number of votes. Rhode was elected as the Chairman of the ISSF Athletes Committee. The terms of office of the new Chairman and the other members

of the Athletes Committee begins immediately. According to ISSF Regulations for the election of the Athletes Committee, the Executive Committee is required to appoint three additional members from the candidates. The Committee made those selections based on the vote count and the need to achieve gender parity and parity among the disciplines. The three additional members of the ISSF Athletes Committee who were appointed are Olena Kosteyvch of Ukraine, Elena Allen of Great Britain and Petar Gorsa of Croatia.

News and Notes

USA Shooting Welcomes New Board Members

Scott Williams

David Meltzer

Rick Marsh

Chad Whittenburg

The board of USA Shooting is proud to welcome four new directors with a variety of experience and expertise to its ranks. Joining the Board of Directors (BOD) are Scott Williams, David Meltzer, Rick Marsh and Chad Whittenburg. During a special board meeting on October 23, Board Chairman Jeff Price and Independent Director Kristen Raskopf resigned from their positions on the BOD; Price due to other obligations and Raskopf to assume a role on the USA Shooting Judicial Committee. Raskopf was also appointed as chairperson of the Judicial Committee by the BOD. Price and Raskopf’s terms on the BOD were set to expire on December 31, 2018. Marsh and Meltzer will replace Price and Raskopf in the two-year term positions. Williams will serve out the remainder of Vice

Chair Paul Boyer’s four-year term that began in 2016. Officer positions, including the selection of a Chair and Vice Chair, will be determined at the first USA Shooting BOD meeting in 2019. Whittenburg will take over as Member Club Representative as current representative Lisa Kelley’s term expires in 2018. This position was nominated and voted on by the USA Shooting member clubs. Starting back in March 2016 as part of USA Shooting’s ongoing governance reform, Independent Director candidates were provided to USA Shooting’s current BOD from a three-person search committee led by the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Rick Adams, Chief of Paralympic Sport and NGB Organizational Development. The committee helped solicit and vet appropriate nominees and provided recommendations to USA Shooting. The pre-

vious Board voted to elect four positions (Price, Boyer, Raskopf and Bridendolph) and determined the length of terms for each candidate. The four Independent Directors are now elected by the Board based on nominations by the USA Shooting Nominating and Governance Committee. ISSF Representative Susan Abbott, Independent Director Barb Bridendolph, Coaches/Officials Representative Richard Hawkins, Athlete Representative Jim Henderson and Athlete Advisory Council Representative Keith Sanderson retain their positions on the BOD with their terms expiring in 2020, except for Abbott, who’s position expires in 2022. “USA Shooting and myself personally are so thankful to Jeff, Kristen, Paul and Lisa for their dedicated service in their roles on our Board of Directors,” said USA Shooting CEO Keith Enlow. “Board

service is a tough volunteer role and they each brought passion, dedication and grace to the position and I cannot thank them enough for their hard work.” BOD Biographies Scott Williams As President of Cabela’s, previous President of Fanatics and General Manager of Samsclub.com, Williams brings a background of toplevel leadership that spans the outdoor industry, as well as marketing, licensing, mass-market retail and sponsorships. He is also a current board member of Duluth Trading and Bain Capital and hopes to provide productive input in leading USA Shooting with his previous professional and board positions. David Meltzer Meltzer is an entrepreneur, author, humanitarian,

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

News and Notes speaker and current CEO of Sports 1 Marketing; a global marketing agency he founded with Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon. Prior to his position at Sports 1 Marketing, he also served as CEO of Leigh Stenberg Sports and Entertainment, as well as CEO of Samsung’s first smartphone division (PC-E Phone). He is also the Chairman of the Unstoppable Foundation, a nonprofit humanitarian organization bringing sustainable education to children and communities in developing countries.

Rick Marsh At age 25, Marsh started Audio International, Inc., a company that designed and manufactured electronic equipment for the corporate jet marketplace. He also negotiated its sale in 1997 and founded Syaid Designs in 2001, a company that designed and manufactured lighting systems and other electronics for the corporate and commercial aircraft market. As a business executive who built two successful technology companies and an engineer by training, Rick also brings extensive experience with the

shooting sports and athlete development. His daughter, Elizabeth, is a current NCAA athlete competing in Rifle at Texas Christian University and a member of the USA Shooting National Team. She was also a member of the 2015 Pan American Games Team. Chad Whittenburg Whittenburg hopes to put his diverse experience in nonprofit leadership, management, human resources, as well as an athlete and a coach to use helping athletes live their dreams in the Olympic movement. Not only

was he a member of the Marine Corps Rifle and Pistol Team, but he is also President of Firm Foundation Custom Homes and Head Coach of the Martin Methodist College Shotgun Team where several of his athletes have gone on to national and international success in the USA Shooting ranks. Whittenburg frequently volunteers his time assisting the coaching staff at USA Shooting matches. In 2015, he was named USA Shooting’s Development Coach of the Year.

Friends of USA Shooting Thank you to all who provided support in USA Shooting’s fundraising efforts for America’s Shooting Team, youth programs, endowments and operations. Bunker Club Shikar Safari Club International Dallas Safari Club Wild Sheep Foundation Media Lodge Kimber SKB Cases SAAMI PODIUM Davidson’s /Gallery of Guns Brazen Sports Federal Premium White Flyer AMI NSSF NRA Resource One ORCA Coolers

Beretta Peltor Sports The Fork Farm Childress Vineyards American Shooting Centers Lucky Clays Farm Lucky Clays Fresh KPMG Baron Engraving Henry Hog Heaven Outfitters Caryonah Hunting Lodge Global Sporting Safaris Big Rock Sports David Denies Bird Hunting Outta Line Charters Cheyenne Ridge Signature Lodge

777 Hunts

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

Decoy Sportfishing Matthews Mobile Media SCTP Midway USA Foundation Outdoor Edge Sonic Boom Woody’s Targets Nomad Mossy Oak Sig Sauer Glock Rogue Ridge F-3 Media Jim Mattley Craig Hill Richard Munguia Liberty Golf Carts Legacy Ford Texas

Butch Eller Jim Cogdell Jason Vanderbrink Marco De La Rosa Judy Anderson Soldier’s Wish Judy Carpenter Jean Paul Abel Jason Nash Milton Turnage Freddy Harteis Jerry Landrum James B. Lawson Bros.& Company

Jason Harden Phil Murdock Bill Moore Tom Mack

Marketing & Fundraising Update

Building the Resources to Financially Support Our Team

By: Kevin Neuendorf Director of Marketing Communications

It’s been a busy and successful year for USA Shooting’s marketing and fundraising efforts in 2018. The 2020 Vision we all seek requires a deep-seated investment by the shooting and outdoor industry, as well as private donors for USA Shooting to become bigger and better in everything we do. We’ve spent the summer appealing to the industry, new donors and ensuring that we think bigger, act better and create opportunities for our partners and donors.

vation opportunities through content creation with Media Lodge providing unprecedented exposure to our partners, including Federal, White Flyer and Kimber.

re-engaged. New partners are looking for ways to get involved. We’re slowly bringing the industry back to USA Shooting. New partnerships and levels of cooperation

gets on the horizon with conversation taking place at all sorts of different levels. As mentioned, we’ve increased our dedication to our sponsors and making sure we achieve a level of support and activation not

Competitors take aim on their targets on the White Flyer Field that now adorns the International Shooting Park, an addition to the range that came about through the increase level of sponsor support provided by White Flyer in 2018.

This means we’ve aggressively pursued new partners such as Federal Premium, SKB Cases, ORCA Coolers, Bass Pro, Tacticam, Mossy Oak, E-Z-GO Golf Carts and Krieghoff just to name a few. We’re working hard to raise our level of support for those sponsors that agree to partner, and such activity this past summer included creating dedicated fields at our shotgun range for Federal and White Flyer, creating online portal competitions with ELEY and providing acti-

We’re proud of our commitment to tell our story and we’ve made a significant investment into not waiting for others to talk about America’s Shooting Team. Right now, we have critical video components that help deliver our message and showcase our athletes to the industry. You can see some of that effort on our YouTube Channel: www.youtube. com/usashootingteam. These efforts have paid off in the biggest of ways thus far. Old partners are

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

are taking place at the NSSF and NRA - two key industry strongholds. New sponsors have been obtained, including SKB Cases, which is providing significant value-in-kind support for the next three years. That support allowed us to equip the World Championship Team with new, branded cases. White Flyer significantly increased their sponsor support and Peltor Sport renewed for an additional year. For certain, there are plenty of more tar-

seen before at USA Shooting. We’re increasing visibility of our sponsors at all our events. White Flyer provided podium prize money at our recent Shotgun National Championships and we’ve engaged other sponsors to do the same for Rifle/Pistol Nationals in 2019. Speaking to where we’ve come from in just a short amount of time, through our efforts, more than 35 organizations stepped forward to provide some sort of support for our recently completed fundraiser in North Carolina. This included sponsors, nonsponsors and local North

Carolina companies. Using a team approach, we’ve got great synergy taking place within the industry and we hope to springboard that feel good vibe to even more support in 2019. Our team has invested significant amount of time and resources into value-in-kind (VIK) acquisition. The results have been tremendous thus far with over $435K achieved to help support our athletes and drive interest in our programs. VIK comes in the way of guns, ammo, gun cases, hunts, fishing trips and other product. Fundraising This year, USA Shooting received a total of $280,055 in grant monies from several foundations. Thanks to the NRA, we were able to send eight more Paralympic athletes to the 2018 World Shooting Para Sport Championships in Cheongju, South Korea where four athletes secured Para Pan American Game quotas, six athletes earned their Minimum Qualifying Scores (MQS) MQS for Para Pan American Games, and five athletes earned their MQS for the Paralympic Games. Not only did the NRA support our Paralympic shooters, they also provided support for improvements to the Olympic shotgun range including concrete pathways for better accessibility to the Finals field, drainage work and a scoreboard on the Finals field. This grant provided the beginning of a transformation that was needed out on the range. Our long-standing partner, Dallas Safari Club, once again provided travel sup-

USA Shooting Team member Marco DeLaRosa takes a shot during the North Carolina Fundraiser that was held at Fork Farm and the Childress Vineyards.

port for the USA Shooting athletes headed to Changwon, South Korea to compete in the 52nd ISSF World Championships. With the Pistol program in need, the Shikar Safari Club International Foundation provided travel support to the 2018 ISSF World Championships and 2018 Championship of the Americas (CAT). The Junior Pistol program relished the opportunity provided by Shikar with a strong performance that included two silver medals and two Finals appearances, while walking away from CAT Games with two Olympic quotas and taking gold in team events in all Olympic disciplines. Developing a stronger coaching program through USA Shooting is well on its way thanks to the Larry and Brenda Potterfield Youth Shooting Fund. This grant has set the mark for the beginning stages of a coaching program that will enhance what has already been established in past years. Grant support had a huge impact in 2018. We also re-

ceived funding that helped grow the Colonel D.D. Behrens Athlete Endowment which provided financial support to 26 Junior athletes with podium potential. In the same light, a grant was given by the Midway Foundation through the Lones Wigger Junior Program Endowment to the Junior Pistol program. The road to fundraising success started off in May with a sporting clays shoot, dinner and auction hosted by Butch Eller/American Shooting Centers in Houston, Texas. It was a huge success with over 200 people participating and strong local business support. Longtime friend and supporter, Butch Eller and the team at American Shooting Centers, have shown a strong partnership for many years, and we are thankful. USA Shooting attempted its first fundraiser, outside of the biennial Houston event, on August 30. The sporting clays shoot was hosted by Jim Cogdell/ The Fork Farm followed by a dinner and auction at Childress Vineyards, which was

generously donated by NRA Vice President and NASCAR legend Richard Childress. This event brought together over 150 people with support from businesses in the surrounding areas. Due to this success, we will be back in North Carolina June 7-8, 2019. Through event fundraising, our efforts to showcase USA Shooting, athletes, and the Olympic and Paralympic shooting sports was no doubt worth the miles traveled. Another amazing fundraiser hosted by Rick Patterson/SAAMI brings members together for their annual meeting which included a shoot, dinner and auction with all proceeds benefiting USA Shooting. As always, it was a successful event, and we appreciate the hard work and support from the SAAMI team. Looking ahead, we’re busily preparing for the Turkeys for Tokyo sporting clays fundraiser in cooperation with the National Wild Turkey Federation. The one-day event will kick-off the NWTF Convention week in February and feature many industry partners and Nashville celebrities. USA Shooting will also host a fundraiser at Oak Tree Fundraiser in Southern California on September 27-28. As proud as we are for the results achieved thus far in 2018, we’re even more optimistic about the future and we’re continuing to drive harder to find bigger and better partnerships in support of America’s Shooting Team.

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

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USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

Youth Programs Update

Lots of Changes Coming To Youth and Coaching Programs By: Stacy Weiland Director of Coaching and Youth Programs

We’ve got lots of exciting news as we close out 2018 and even more momentum and excitement in store for 2019. We’ve started a national coach recruitment program that trains coaches with the skills to recruit and train new coaches. This will greatly multiply the amount of coaches nationwide as more and more athletes are picking up the sport of shooting. We received a grant from Larry and Brenda Potterfield to “Train the Trainer” and are amid a nationwide search to find coaches that we can train within a curriculum we have developed to train others and bring in new coaches. The theory is if we train more in the skill of bringing in new coaches, follow up with them on a structured teaching curriculum, then we have a better chance of adding and retaining coaches and athletes nationwide. We will start off with a program for Shotgun, then add Rifle and Pistol in late 2019. This curriculum will be for entry-level coaches and athletes, and not necessarily for Olympic-style sports. Outreach has increased to youth programs nationwide, which has produced greater partnerships with the CMP, SSSF, SCTP, and SASP

with many camps and competitions that will showcase Olympic-style events. In the past, we haven’t partnered as strongly with these youth programs to create lasting impact. Now, we will start attending their national events with coaches and athletes, and they will start to phase in more Olympic-style events into their local, regional and national events. In addition, we will be holding more camps at the Olympic Training Center for more of their athletes who show interest in the Olympic-style sports. We’re working toward national coaches teaching them skills at the camps, so we can have a wider array of athletes involved with international shooting events. We’re also working on redesigning and improving our

online Coaches Academy to better reach out to those interested nationwide, with a user-friendly platform that allows us to offer a more comprehensive curriculum. This includes rewriting the coursework, so we will be updating the skills being taught. In addition, we are working with our online class software platform to have the programs in an easierto-use format. We will also be adding video class work to the program to make it easier to follow some of the more difficult skill sets. In addition, we plan to present the class work in an easierto-follow format, so each student can more easily follow their path and know exactly what they have left to accomplish.

We have really hit the ground running in the second half of 2018 and look forward to announcing even more partnerships with national shooting groups and governing bodies soon. It seems as if we’re finally seeing the light of day in rewriting the overall format of the Coaches Academy and final paperwork on the partnerships with the youth programs. We already have two camps in place for 2019 with SCTP and the SASP to bring in more youth shooters and expose them to the international events.

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

Trap Senior Open

Senter Four-Peats for Senior Open International Trap Title By: Maxey Brantley Submitted story

An authentic 1885 chuck wagon cowboy-style dinner, karaoke, meals on site and plenty of camaraderie...no, not a cruise to the islands, but rather the 2018 International Shooting Sports of Oregon’s Senior Open for International Trap XII, hosted at Willawalla Creek Shooting Center in Saint Jo, Texas. Shooters from the four corners of the United States and Canada were treated for the second time to unmatched generosity and hospitality by the Weger family and friends over a four-day period, making for a memorable event. Started in 2007, the Senior Open is an annual USA Shooting-sanctioned Trap event designed specifically for Senior Category Trap shooters (ages 50+), replicating a World Cup experience while allowing decades-old friendships to be renewed and new friendships to be made. This year marked Senior Open XII as it moves around the country to various venues, promoting the USA Shooting motto “Sport for Life.” Designed around the ISSF World Cup Trap format, shooters fire 75 targets on Saturday and 50 targets on Sunday. The Euro Class System classifies shooters based on their performances on Saturday’s score, being particularly

(Left to right) George Leary, Dave Senter and Lloyd Litwin. Photo by: Kathy Gregory.

important since non-USAS members from other countries participate in the event. Challenging light and weather conditions prevailed both days; however, flawless equipment and range conditions made for a superb event for the record turnout of shooters. Willawalla proved to be a level playing field, giving no one home field advantage as the competition unfolded. White Flyer provided complementary Orange Crusher flash targets and USAS arranged ammunition availability, both greatly enhancing the event. Lloyd Litwin, of Canada jumped out to a commanding lead with 67/75 on Day One. Paul Mullen (Laurel, Maryland) trailed 64/75 while David Senter (St. Helens, Oregon) rounded out

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

the top three with 61/75, promising an interesting matchup for Day Two and the subsequent 50 qualification targets leading to the Finals. Day Two saw Litwin maintain his lead with 108/125 while Senter posted 104, inching closer. Mullen posted 102/125 and Olympian George Leary of Canada and Ricardo Alcantara (Fallbrook, California) qualified for the Finals with 100 each. Primo Scapin of Canada broke 98 to round out the top six shooters. Using the current ISSF Finals, Mullen, Scapin and Alcantara were eliminated in turn, with Litwin claiming the bronze with 29/40. Senter and Leary, both standing at 31/40, continued for the last 10 targets, maintaining the tie, posting 38/50 each and set-

ting up a sudden-death face off with Senter leading off. Senter claimed his fourth Senior Open Championship smashing 6/6 targets while Leary claimed the Silver with 5/6 targets broken. B and C Class winners were determined using a modified Finals process, with Maxey Brantley (New Braunfels, Texas) and John Richardson (Granbury, Texas) winning respectively. The Senior Open XIII is tentatively scheduled for September 2019 hosted by the California Clay Target Shooting Association in Redlands, California. Announcements will be made when the details are finalized, and the event will be listed on the USAS website.

Rifle/Pistol National Championships

National Championships as Final Tune-up Prior to Worlds More than 200 Rifle and Pistol athletes made their annual pilgrimage to the home of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit for the week-long USA Shooting National Championships for Rifle and Pistol. National titles and potential slots on the National Junior/National Paralympic Teams were up for grabs as athletes competed across the individual Olympic and Paralympic events in Rifle and Pistol disciplines, as well as Men’s and Women’s 50m Prone Rifle, Men’s 25m Center Fire and Standard Pistol and Men’s 50m Free Pistol. This match also served as the selection match for the athletes who competed in the 2018 ISSF World Championship in these non-Olympic events. In addition to the National Championships, this event was also a World Shooting Para Sport-sanctioned (WSPS, formerly IPC) match so Paralympic athletes from the U.S., Ireland, Canada, Ukraine and Columbia also competed in this match across the Paralympic Rifle and Pistol events. This year’s National Championship was the first Nationals where the new ISSF shooting format where men and women shot the same number of record shots in competition was in

place. In Women’s Air Rifle, Sarah Beard (Danville, Indiana/U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit) was back in top form, winning gold in the event. Beard joined the Army shortly after the 2016 World Cup Finals and has been off the competition circuit until recently, but she’s shown no signs of slowing, posting world-class scores on both days of competition (623.8 and 628.3). Taking the silver was last year’s National Champion Alison Weisz (Belgrade, Montana) and the bronze medal went to reigning Olympic gold medalist Ginny Thrasher (Springfield, Virginia). On the Junior side, Angeline Henry (Fort Worth, Texas) won gold, Sarah Osborn (Hampton Virginia) won silver and relative newcomer Lauren McMahan (Sarasota, Florida), who just started shooting rifle two years ago, won the bronze medal. Three-time Olympic medalist Matt Emmons (Browns Mills, New Jersey) won the Men’s Three-Position Rifle event handily by 11 points over two days of competition. Not only did he shoot an impressive 1179 on the first day of Qualification, he bested that score with an 1182 in his second Qualification, as well as winning the Final.

Top: Alexis Lagan. Middle: Junior Women’s Sport Pistol medalists. Bottom: (left to right) George Norton, Michael McPhail and Tim Sherry.

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

Rifle/Pistol National Championships

Top left: Men’s Three-Position Rifle medalists. Top right: James Hall. Middle: McKenna Dahl. Bottom left: Tricia Downing. Bottom right: Nick Mowrer. Last year’s National Champion and Emmons’ 2016 Olympic teammate Lucas Kozeniesky (Fairfax, Virginia) won the silver medal and George Norton (U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit/ Salina, Kansas) won the bronze.

Ohio State’s Jacob Buchanan (Spring, Texas) won the Junior Men’s Three-Position Rifle gold. Will Shaner (Colorado Springs, Colorado) won the silver medal and Peter Fiori (Lebanon, New Jersey) won the bronze. Rapid Fire Pistol specialist Keith Sanderson (Colo-

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

rado Springs, Colorado) won gold in Men’s Standard Pistol. Jack Leverett III (Bainbridge, Georgia) won silver and James Hall (Columbia, Missouri) won the bronze. Sanderson also won the Center Fire Pistol gold medal. Alex Chichkov (Temple Terrace, Florida) won the

silver and Konstantin Pitsoulis (Brooklyn, New York) won the bronze. Ryan Yi (Diamond Bar, California) won the Junior Men’s Sport Pistol gold medal. Henry Leverett (Bainbridge, Georgia), Jack III’s brother, won the silver medal and Jack Leverett III won

Ali Weisz, Sagen Maddalena hugs Angeline Henry in Women’s Air Rifle Finals. the bronze. In the R4 (Mixed 10m Air Rifle Standing SH2) event, Vitalii Plakushchyi of Ukraine and Jazmin Almlie-Ryan (Houston, Texas) seemed to tie for the lead shot-after-shot throughout the match. It wasn’t until the final two shots that Plakushchyi would come out on top for the gold. Almlie-Ryan took the silver and Phil Eaglesham of Ireland won the bronze. In the Women’s Air Pistol competition, Alexis Lagan (Boulder City, Nevada) won the title by 16 points over the woman she’s looked up to for years in the sport, 2012 Olympian Sandra Uptagrafft (Phenix City, Alabama). Seventeen-year-old Sarah Choe (Los Angeles, California) won the bronze medal. Choe was also the Junior Women’s National Champion. Katelyn Abeln (Douglasville, Georgia) won the silver medal and Kellie Foster (Rockdale, Texas) won the bronze. 2012 Olympian Nick Mowrer (Butte, Montana) won the Men’s Air Pistol title by 15 points over Jack Leverett III. Hall would win the

bronze medal. Jack Leverett III’s lead was so large in the Junior Men’s Air Pistol competition that he won that title too, even without competing in the Final as it conflicted with one of his other events. Samuel Gens (Andover, Massachusetts) won the silver and Henry Leverett won the bronze. Former Prone Rifle specialist Michael McPhail (U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit/ Darlington, Wisconsin) won the gold in this event by 11.4 points over his 2012 and 2016 Olympic teammate Emmons. Daniel Martz (Columbia, Missouri) won the bronze medal. In the Junior Men’s competition, Will Shaner won the gold and 13-year-old Braden Peiser (San Angelo, Texas) won the silver. Matthew Liao (Yorba Linda, California) won the bronze medal. In the Women’s Prone Rifle competition, Morgan Phillips (Salisbury, Maryland) won the gold and Katie Zaun (Buffalo, North Dakota) won silver. Randi Loudin (Post Falls, Idaho) won the bronze. Phillips and Zaun were also gold and silver in the Junior

Braden Peiser Women’s competition, with Jaden Thompson (Bloomington, Illinois) winning the Junior Women’s bronze. In R6 (Mixed 50m Rifle Prone SH1), Andrii Doroshenko of Ukraine won the gold, edging out silver medalist Kevin Nguyen (Westminster, California/USAMU) by 1.4 points. John Joss (USAMU/Corsicana, Texas) won the bronze. American shooters also won the silver and bronze in the P1 (Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1) event. Oleksi Denysiuk of Ukraine won the gold, with Americans Marco DeLaRosa (San Antonio, Texas) winning silver and Aaron Causey (Riverside, Alabama) winning the bronze. On the women’s side in Pistol, Ukraine was once again on top with Iryna Liakhu winning gold, Tricia Downing (Denver, Colorado) winning silver and Maria Teresa Restrepo Rojas of Columbia winning bronze. 2016 Paralympic bronze medalist McKenna Dahl (Arlington, Washington) won the gold medal in R9 (Mixed 50m Rifle Prone SH2) and Eaglesham won the silver. Even though six-time

Olympian Emil Milev (Columbus, Ohio) was unable to shoot the Final, his 15-point lead following the two days of Qualification was enough to secure him the gold before the Rapid Fire Pistol Final even started. Entering the Final, Jack Leverett III held a one-point advantage on Sanderson following Qualification. As additional points were awarded based on finish in the Final (six for first, five for second and so on), when Sanderson won the Final and Leverett finished in second place, the athletes were tied for overall points to determine medal placement. The medals were decided in a single, five-shot series shootoff. Though Leverett made four of five hits, Sanderson had a perfect series of five hits in the shootoff to win the silver medal. Leverett won the bronze medal. Leverett also won the Junior Men’s Rapid Fire gold before the Final even started as he entered the Final with a 19-point lead on the next-highest competitor, his brother, Henry, who won the silver medal in the Junior competition. Yi won the

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

bronze medal. Thrasher, Beard and Elizabeth Marsh (Searcy, Arkansas) were all tied at the end of the two days of Qualification with a score of 2338, with each athlete putting up world-class scores over their two-competition. Phillips was just one point out of the lead with a score of 2337. The medals of this event were narrowly decided on finish in the Final with Thrasher narrowly edging out Beard for the gold by one point. Marsh took home the bronze medal. Marsh also won silver in the Junior Women’s ThreePosition Rifle competition. The gold went to Phillips who also claimed gold this week in Junior Women’s Prone Rifle. Zaun won the Junior bronze medal. Dempster Christenson (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) won the gold by just .9 point over Shaner. Kozeniesky won the bronze medal. Christenson was just .4 ahead of Shaner after two days of Qualification. As Christenson finished in second place and Shaner finished in third in the Final, he earned the required .5-point advantage to seal the win. Shaner also claimed the gold medal in the Junior Men’s Air Rifle competition. Buchanan won the silver and Brandon Mach (Riley Township, Michigan) won the bronze. In a competition that was plagued by multiple delays from severe weather rolling through the area, the Women’s Sport Pistol championship title would be decided in a shootoff as Air Pistol National Champion Lagan and Uptagrafft were tied in

points following the two days of Qualification and the additional points earned by their Finals finishes. However, it all came down to a single, five-shot series in which Uptagrafft would be crowned National Champion with Lagan taking home the silver. Choe won the bronze medal. Choe also won the Junior Women’s Sport Pistol title, with Abeln winning the silver and Abbie Leverett (Bainbridge, Georgia) winning the bronze. In Men’s Free Pistol, Richard Gray (Fredericksburg, Virginia) won the gold medal, Hall won the silver and Gens won the bronze. Gens would claim the Junior Men’s Free Pistol title as well with Paul Kang (Los Angeles, California) winning the silver and Bernard Melus, Jr. (Lake Zurich, Illinois) winning the bronze. Nguyen won the R3 (Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1) event by dominating the R5 Final from start to finish, eventually winning the gold by 3.1 points. Taylor Farmer (Castalia, Ohio) won the silver medal and Nick Beach (Dresden, Ohio) won the bronze. In the R5 (Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH2) event, 2016 Paralympic Games gold medalist Vasyl Kovalchuk of Ukraine won gold once again in Fort Benning. The silver went to Almlie-Ryan and bronze went to Phillip Eaglesham of Ireland. Medals were also awarded in the R2 (Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1) event in which Farmer won the gold and 2016 Paralympian Tammy Delano (Rome, New York) won the silver.

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

Top: Jack Levertt III, Middle: Women’s Air Rifle competition. Bottom: Moira Antal shoots a 10.9.

Full Page (with bleed) : W 8.5’’ x H 11.125’’ Full Page (without bleed 0.25) : W 8.0’’x H 10.625’’

National Junior Olympic Championships for Shotgun

Return Podium Appearances Mark NJOSC for Shotgun More than 225 young Shotgun athletes made their way to Colorado Springs to compete in the annual National Junior Olympic Shooting Championships (NJOSC). The annual celebration of Junior Shotgun talent ran June 21 through June 29 at the International Shooting Park just south of the city at Fort Carson.

Presenting your Trap medalists. Top: Men’s Trap: (left to right) Jack Brosseau, Dale Royer and Lance Thompson. Bottom: Women’s Trap medalists take a selfie. (Left to right): Madelynn Bernau, Carey Carrison and Emma Williams.

Garrison and Royer Win Trap Titles The first half of the National Junior Olympic Shooting Championships (NJOSC) for Shotgun ended with medals awarded in the Trap discipline at the International Shooting Park just south of the city on Fort Carson. Taking top honors in the men’s competition was a defending NJOSC gold medalist, as well as a 13-year-old who showed talent beyond her years in the Women’s event. On the line for these athletes were NJOSC medals and potential invitations to the National Junior Team. Carey Garrison (Crossville,

Tennessee) won the Women’s Trap gold medal, hitting 44/50 targets in the Final. She qualified for the Final with the third-highest Qualification score of 112/125 targets over two days of competition. Once in the Final, after her eighth target, she hit 29 targets in a row on her way to the NJOSC title. “It was really hard, and I had a lot of up and down rounds, but I pulled it off at the end and I’m really excited about it!” Garrison said. At age 13 at the time, Garrison competes in the youngest age category (J3, for athletes age 14 or younger) where she won the Ju-

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

nior Women’s Trap Title at last year’s National Championships. The podium in the Women’s Trap competition was rounded out by Garrison’s World Championship teammates, Madelynn Bernau (Waterford, Wisconsin) who won silver with 42 targets in the Final and Emma Williams (Savannah, Tennessee), who won the bronze with 32 targets in the Final. Williams entered the Final with the highest Qualification score of 116.

Winning the J2 category (age 15-17) gold was Heather Broski (Spring Hill, Tennessee). Winning silver was Faith Pendergrass (Valley Hills, California) and bronze was Caroline Johnson (Hot Springs, Arkansas).

In the J3 Category, Ryann Phillips (Gail, Texas) won gold and Ivalynn Barnum (Greenwood, Arkansas) won silver. On the Men’s Trap side, there was a sense of déjà vu to this year’s competition. “It was pretty much a repeat of last year,” said defending NJOSC gold medalist Dale Royer. “I got a 46

both times and I’m pretty happy with that.” Royer (Jackson, Montana) once again won the NJOSC title this year in similar fashion to last year’s, earning identical scores in the Final. He bested last year’s Qualification score, however, by four targets to tie for the highest Qualification score of 120/125. Winning the Men’s Trap silver was Jack Brosseau (Durant, Florida) and winning the bronze was Lance Thompson (Carlisle, Pennsylvania). Smith and Moschetti Win Skeet Titles The last day of NJOSC for Shotgun went out with a bang – or maybe more of a puff – as the last clays were thrown, and this year’s Skeet champions were crowned at the International Shooting Park on Fort Carson.

It was a nail-biter right to the end in the women’s and men’s events as the gold and silver were decided in both Finals by one target (as well as by a score of 54 to 53 targets). Sam Simonton (Gainesville, Georgia) was the top finisher in Qualification for the Women’s event with 121/125 targets – six targets ahead of her closest competitor. Once in the Final, however, it would come down to the wire in breezy conditions with Simonton’s World Championship teammate Austen Smith (Keller, Texas) narrowly edging out Simonton for the gold. Last year’s NJOSC champion, Jacenta Jacob (Rochester, Michigan), won the bronze. “This match was crazy!” Smith said. “There was a lot of wind and I didn’t shoot exactly what I wanted to, but it worked out in the end. On the last shot I was shaking like crazy.” The story on the men’s side was sort of familiar with

Top: Women’s Skeet medalists (left to right) Sam Simonton, Austen Smith and Jacenta Jacob. Left: Eli Ellis. Bottom: Madelynn Bernau and Emma Williams high five on the podium. the top finisher in Qualification, Eli Christman (Hixson, Tennessee), dueling it out in the last 10 targets in the Final with his training partner, Nic Moschetti (Broomfield, Colorado) for NJOSC supremacy. “It’s been quite the whirlwind, literally,” Moschetti said of the competition. “It’s been really windy and hot these last few days and it’s made competition intense. Scores were up and down all over the place… It was my last Junior Olympics so I was glad I could go out on top.” It wasn’t until the 56th target in the Final when Christman missed and Moschetti dusted it that Mos-

chetti would go on to defend his 2017 NJOSC title, which was decided in 2017 in a shootoff with Christman as well. 2016 NJOSC champ Trey Wright (Albany, Georgia) won the bronze medal. “Christman and I have trained together for the past month so I figured it would come down to he and I, just with how we’ve been shooting,” Moschetti said. “It’s fun getting to shoot against my training partner. I liked that it got down to one target between us – shows we’re both strong shooters and made for a good Final.”

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

National Junior Olympic Shooting Championships

Event

Finish

Athlete (Hometown)

Women’s Skeet

Champion 2nd Place 3rd Place J2 Champ J3 Champ

Austen Smith (Kellar, Texas) Sam Simonton (Gainesville, Ga.) Jacenta Jacob (Rochester, Mich.) Victoria Hendrix (Glendale, Arizona) Karsyn Ross (Seguin, Texas)

Men’s Skeet

Champion 2nd Place 3rd Place J2 Champ J3 Champ

Nic Moschetti (Broomfield, Colo.) Eli Christman (Hixson, Tenn.) Trey Wright (Albany, Ga.) Eli Ellis (College Station, Texas) Benjamin Keller (Johnstown, Colo.)

Women’s Trap

Champion 2nd Place 3rd Place J2 Champ J3 Champ

Carey Garrison (Crossville, Tenn.) Madelynn Bernau (Waterford, Wis.) Emma Williams (Savannah, Tenn.) Heather Broski (Spring Hill, Tenn.) Ryann Phillips (Gail, Texas)

Men’s Trap

Champion 2nd Place 3rd Place J2 Champ J3 Champ

Dale Royer (Jackson, Mont.) Jack Brosseau (Durant, Fla.) Lance Thompson (Carlisle, Pa.) Grayson Davey (Anchorage, Alaska) Tommy Jack Thew (Mt. Ida, Ark.)

Top left: Lloyd Woodhouse congratulates Nic Moschetti. Second: Katie Jacob. Third: Austen Smith and Sam Simonton fist bump. Middle: Skeet competitors exchange fist bumps. Far right: Men’s Skeet medalists (left to right) Eli Christman, Nic Moschetti and Trey Wright. Bottom: Fans watch Finals in Colorado Springs.

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

Junior World Cup Suhl

American Juniors Show Smallbore Strength in Suhl World Cup American Juniors are proving their smallbore strength on the international stage when Will Shaner won gold in Men’s Prone Rifle and Morgan Phillips won silver in Women’s Three-Position Rifle at the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany. Shaner (Colorado Springs) won gold with a Qualification score of 623.4

Once in the Final, Phillips didn’t move to the top of the pack until the first pair of shots in the standing position. Eventual gold medalist, Zeru Wang of China, overtook the lead in the final five shots, finishing strong to beat Phillips for the gold by .8 point. “I had a really controlled match today and was pa-

setting a Junior World Record with her score of 626.8. Muriel Zueger of Switzerland won the bronze medal. Phillips was joined in the Final by her teammate Elizabeth Marsh (Searcy, Arkansas) who finished in fifth place. Finishing two points out of a potential Finals berth was Sarah Osborn (Hampton, Virginia)

bridge, Georgia) finished in 48th place with a score of 562 and Kyler Swisher (Jonestown, Pennsylvania) finished in 76th place with a score of 553. Sarah Choe (Los Angeles, California) missed a potential Finals berth in Women’s Sport Pistol by one point to finish in 10th place with a score of 573. Abbie Leverett (Bainbridge, Georgia) finished in 20th place with a

Morgan Phillips set a Junior World Record with her Women’s 50m Prone Rifle score of 626.8.

– 2.6 points ahead of the next-closest competitor. As Men’s Prone Rifle is no longer an Olympic event, Finals were not contested in this event. Phillips (Salisbury, Maryland) finished Qualification with a world-class score at the Open (adult) level of 1175, the highest of all competitors and a personal best for Phillips.

tient when I needed to be,” Phillips said. “Everything throughout all three positions was consistent. The last few shots of the Final I wasn’t worried about what the other athletes were doing. I just focused on what I needed to do to execute the best shot that I could and just stayed present.” Earlier in the week, Phillips also won gold in the Women’s Prone Rifle event,

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

with a score of 1165. Kristen Hemphill (Lohn, Texas) finished in 61st place with a score of 1142. Together Phillips, Marsh and Hemphill earned a team silver medal. Jack Leverett III (Bainbridge, Georgia) qualified for the Final with a score of 578 and was eliminated in seventh place. Paul Kang (Los Angeles, California) finished in 31st place with a score of 567, Henry Leverett (Bain-

score of 567. Katelyn Abeln (Douglasville, Georgia) finished in 28th place with a score of 563 and Kellie Foster (Rockdale, Texas) finished in 37th place with a score of 559. The USA Shooting Team also picked up two team silver medals in this event: One in Women’s Standard Pistol and one in Women’s Three-Position Rifle. This match was the second Junior World Cup of the season and featuresd761 athletes from 61 countries to compete in the 15 Olympic shooting events, as well as seven non-Olympic events, such as Men’s and Women’s Standard Pistol and Prone Rifle.

(Left) Will Shaner wins Men’s Prone Rifle gold. (Right, top) Women’s Three-Position Rifle silver team medal, (right, bottom) Morgan Phillips wins Women’s ThreePosition Rifle silver. Right photos by: ISSF.

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End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News 唀匀䄀匀栀漀漀琀椀渀最

World Cup Tucson

Women’s Skeet, Trap Mixed Team Take the Podium in Tucson It wasn’t just the weather that was hot in Tucson, Arizona as more than 200 of the world’s top Shotgun athletes converged on the Tucson Trap & Skeet Club for the final stage of the 2018 ISSF World Cup of the year.

The USA Shooting Team opened the World Cup by claiming gold and silver in the Women’s Skeet event. Six-time Olympic medalist Kim Rhode (El Monte, California) claimed the 18th

three. I knew I had my work cut out for me. From then on, I just figured out what I was doing and just kind of took it one target at a time. I think we were all fighting the heat a bit, and for me personally, I

tied in the Final with 55/60 targets, forcing the gold/ silver medal decision to a shootoff. “We had a lot of delays, but it’s just something you have to look past - every-

Rhode and Connor’s teammate Amber English (U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit/Colorado Springs, Colorado) finished Qualification with a score of 117, just one target shy of a potential Finals berth. English won silver at the previous World Kim Rhode won gold and Caitlin Connor won silver in Women’s Skeet at the last World Cup stop in 2018 in Tucson, Arizona. Podium photos by: ISSF.

World Cup gold medal of her career – 30th World Cup medal overall — battling heat, delays, as well as her teammate Caitlin Connor (Winnfield, Louisiana) down to a shootoff. “I had to work for that one,” a tired Rhode exclaimed as the applause began when Rhode won the shootoff, 4-3. “Going into the Final, I struggled through the first couple passes, dropping

was fighting a headache too. In the end, I’m just glad it all worked out, USA took gold and silver and that’s all that matters!” The duo entered the Final with the top two Qualification scores, with Rhode setting a Qualification World Record by hitting 122/125 targets and Connor just one target back at 121. Their strong shooting would continue to the end as the pair

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

one’s in the same conditions. Just make the best of it. Fortunately for me, I’ve had a lot experience shooting a lot of Finals!” Rhode said. “I couldn’t have been happier to have that shootoff with my teammate Caitlin – we travel a lot, competed a lot together and we’re still good friends.” Lucie Anastassiou of France won the bronze medal.

Cup stage in Siggiewi, Malta. Two-time Olympian Frank Thompson finished in fifth place in Men’s Skeet. Thompson (Alliance, Nebraska) finished Qualification with a score of 122/125 targets. He and three other athletes were tied with 122 hits and had to shootoff for placement in the Final, with Thompson landing in the last position. Once in the Final, however, Thompson missed six targets in the first 30 and was eliminated in the fifth position. Thompson also finished in fifth place in the World Cups in Guadalajara, Mexico and Siggiewi, Malta.

Phillip Jungman (U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit/ Caldwell, Texas) was just one target shy of a potential Finals berth with 121 hits to finish in seventh place. Jungman’s USAMU teammate Dustan Taylor (Staley, North Carolina) finished in 29th place with 118 hits. The USA Shooting Team opened the World Cup the same way it closed it withTrap Mixed Team – with two World Cup medals. Winning gold in the newly-minted Olympic event was two-time Olympic bronze medalist Corey CogdellUnrein (Eagle River, Alaska) and Jake Wallace (Castaic, California). Winning the bronze was the team of Kayle Browning (Wooster, Arkansas) and Will Hinton (U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit/ Dacula, Georgia). The team of Cogdell-Unrein/Wallace was near the front of the 24-team pack most of the day, opening the first round of three with 46/50 hits. They finished Qualification in second

place overall with 132/150 hits. Once in the Final, Cogdell-Unrein/Wallace once again floated around the top of the pack throughout the first half, only dropping a combined three targets in the first 25. Even though the French team of Melanie Couzy/Sebastien Guerrero and Browning/Hinton were closing in on the final series of five, on Wallace’s final shot of the match, he pumped his fist as he walked to his last station, knowing he had put the gold medal out of reach of the other teams. The Finals format saw each member of the team alternate shooting every five shots for a total of 50 targets. Cogdell-Unrein/Wallace finished the Final one target ahead of the French team with 43/50 hits. Wallace was the top American finisher in Men’s Trap, finishing in eighth place and just one target out of the Final. Aeriel Skinner (Jackson, California) was the top American finisher in Women’s Trap in 10th place.

Top: Mixed Trap Team podium. Photo by: ISSF. Top right: Caitlin Connor and National Coach Jay Waldron high five. Middle: Frank Thompson. Bottom: Jake Wallace and Corey Cogdell-Unrein.

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

WSPS World Cup Chateauroux

Farmer Wins Two Medals, Joss One Plus Quota At Last WSPS World Cup of 2018 Taylor Farmer won her first World Shooting Para Sport (WSPS) World Cup medal in November when she won bronze in the R2 (Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1) event in Chateauroux, France. Farmer (Castalia, Ohio) qualified for the Final with a score of 607.8. Once in the

Hilltrop of Germany won the silver medal. “Before the Final I knew I was going to be bringing home a medal for the Americans,” said Farmer. “I took shot by shot, and each one came with confidence. I knew if I gave it everything I had it was going to happen. When I thought it wasn’t a

The USA Shooting Team picked up its second medal of the World Cup when John Joss (Corsicana, Texas/U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit) won silver in the R6 (Mixed 50m Rifle Prone SH1) event. In addition to his silvermedal win, Joss also earned the United States its first Paralympic quota for 2020.

Joss entered the Final with the lowest Qualification score of 616.5. Once in the Final, Joss found himself in second place after the first series of five shots and stayed in the second position until the end with his score of 245.5, unable to catch gold medalist Juan Antonio Saavedra Reinaldo of Spain. Matt Skelhon of Great Britain won the bronze medal. Taylor Farmer won bronze in R2 (Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1) and in R8 (Women’s 50m Three-Position Rifle SH1).

Final, Farmer moved into the lead after the first 10 shots. She stayed on top of the field until the 22nd shot when she was tied for third with eventual gold medalist Natalie Smith of Australia, forcing them into a shootoff to decide who would be eliminated in the bronzemedal position. Smith shot a 10.4 and Farmer a 10.2, with Farmer taking the bronze medal with a final score of 225.9. Natascha

good shot, I didn’t take it until I knew it was and that’s what I wanted!” Her bronze-medal win was Farmer’s highest World Cup finish to date. She finished fourth in the R2 event at the WSPS World Cup in Bangkok, Thailand in 2017. 2016 Paralympic bronze medalist McKenna Dahl (Arlington, Washington) finished in 18th place in R9 (Mixed 50m Rifle Prone SH2) with a score of 599.3.

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

A Paralympic quota is essentially a country’s ticket to compete in a specific event in the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. “My goal was the quota and I was determined to earn it,” said Joss. “I had been shooting very well in difficult conditions and the first two days of training were abysmal – wind would keep switching directions and was difficult to read. Today was a little less windy.”

Also competing in R6 was Joss’ Army teammate Kevin Nguyen (Westminster, California/USAMU) who finished in 12th place with a score of 613.7. Farmer, who won bronze the previous day in R2, finished in 43rd place with a score of 599.0. Dahl finished in 13th place in R4 (Mixed 10m Air Rifle Standing SH2) with a score of 624.4. Farmer picked up her second medal of the World Cup when she won bronze in the R8 (Women’s 50m ThreePosition Rifle SH1) event. In her World Cup debut in R8, Farmer qualified for the Final in sixth place with a score of 1127. Once in the Final, Farmer was in second

John Joss won silver in R6 (Mixed 50m Rifle Prone SH1). Along with his silver medal, he won the first Paralympic Games quota for the United States.

place after the Kneeling stage but fell to fifth place in the subsequent Prone series. Throughout the elimination shots in Standing, Farmer was able to claw her way

into medal c o n te n t i o n with a fiveshot series of 52.3 – the highestscoring series of any athlete in the Final. Farmer’s Finals score of 427.6 set a Junior World Record for the 20-year-old athlete.

“This was my second match in Three-Position Rifle after competing for the first time at the USA Shooting National Championships earlier this year,” said Farmer, who has only been shooting the Three-Position Rifle event since December. “Most of my training has been indoors and this week I’ve learned more about the

wind with each shot! I took each shot as it came, and I made corrections as needed.” Athletes throughout the match noted the challenging, windy conditions at the 50m range in Chateauroux. Hiltrop of Germany won the gold medal and Elke Seeliger - also of Germany - won the silver medal. Marco DeLaRosa (San Antonio, Texas) competed in the P1 (Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1) event where he finished in 16th place with a score of 552.

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Progressive-Position Pistol National Championships

PPP Brings Together Pistol Youth For Dual Venue Duel (Left) Western participants in Colorado Springs. (Below) Eastern participants in Anniston. (Bottom left) Top Standing Team at Western.

USA Shooting’s 2018 Progressive-Position Pistol (PPP) National Championships concluded after two days of intense competition during the dual-venue match July 19-21 in Colorado Springs, Colorado and Anniston, Alabama. The Colorado Springs Olympic Shooting Center and the Civilian Marksmanship Program Air Rifle Range in Anniston, Alabama hosted the PPP National Championships for the second year in a row. The two-site system was put in place in 2013 in hopes of helping drive registration numbers and making event travel more attainable for kids and families participating. With matches run-

ning concurrently, the athletes at both venues can also compete with athletes from across the country for PPP supremacy. The winners of the Men’s and Women’s International Standing overall titles are from Colorado Springs – Hunter Battig and Rebecca Platt. Prior to the second day’s Final, each of them had such a lead on the competition that the additional points earned based on Finals finish were rendered inconsequential, though they also both won their respective Finals. On the women’s side, silver medalist Carrie Haltiwanger (Little Mountain, South Carolina) and bronze medalist Caroline Trombley (Lexington, Massachusetts) won their medals in Alabama and

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

were also medalists at last year’s PPP National Championships. Both men’s silver and bronze medalists also came from the Alabama competition. Sam Zeigler (Palmyra, Pennsylvania) won the silver medal and Jacob Turner (Omega, Georgia) won the bronze. Battig and Platt, along with Alissa Johnson (Colorado Springs, Colorado) were the top overall team of October 9 in International Standing (pictured). The team of One Shot Wonders of Turner, Cory Frazier (Tifton, Georgia) and Johnna Dales (Tifton, Georgia) won silver and the team of Palmyra of Zeigler, Andrew Sturrup (Palmyra, Pennsylvania) and Maggi Shifflet (Palmyra, Pennsylvania) won bronze.

A first in PPP history occurred on the last day of competition when Valerie Nothnagle (Hummelstown, Pennsylvania) shot a perfect Qualification score of 400 in the Basic Supported category. She also went on to win the gold in this event. The combined PPP National Championships featured 74 participants from 11 states. The PPP program, which began in 2008, creates an opportunity for youth to begin shooting Pistol at an earlier age, with no minimum age requirement. PPP is designed to progressively develop Junior Pistol athletes through the three categories as defined by the shooting position used by the competitor. They include basic supported, standing supported and international (one-handed) standing. PPP gives the junior athlete the opportunity to focus on and learn the foundational Pistol skills with the opportunity to participate in competitions. This progression develops confidence, skills and knowledge at an early age. USA Shooting would like to thank everyone who made the 2018 PPP National Championships a success, including both match sites as well as their staff, range officers, volunteers and parents who made both matches possible.

Shotgun National Championships

National Champions Crowned in Challenging Competition, Weather Trap More than 200 athletes from across the country and three countries descended on Colorado Springs to compete in the USA Shooting National Championships September 29 – October 10. Winning the Men’s Trap title was Caleb Lindsey (Spring Hill, Tennessee). Lindsey won silver at last year’s National Championship and promoted that medal to gold with his nailbiting 44-43 win over silver medalist Roe Reynolds (Quitman, Arkansas). “That result showed me what I was made of, that I could compete at this level,” Lindsey said. “I knew if I focused harder, with more quality practice versus quantity training, I could take that next step.” Lindsey also won bronze in the Junior division at the 2016 National Championships. Winning bronze was Brian Burrows (Fallbrook, California) who had stepped away from internationalstyle competition in the summer of 2016, but has proven he’s ready to make a return to the international stage, including his silver-medal finish earlier this year at the Summer Selection Match in Kerrville, Texas. Aeriel Skinner won her first Women’s Trap title with 44 targets in the Final as well over silver medalist Emma Williams (Savannah,

Tennessee). Three-time defending National Champion Ashley Carroll (Solvang, California) won the bronze medal. “It started off rough and I struggled,” said Skinner, who posted a score of 110 in her first 125 targets. “I didn’t even feel like the same person through the first 125. I talked to [1996 Olympic bronze medalist Lance Bade] about my preshot routine and mental game before the second half and did much better – couldn’t have done much worse!” Athletes in the men’s and women’s events shot 250 targets over the four days of competitions, as well as the Final of 50 targets. “For some reason I couldn’t hit my first targets, then [Carroll] gave me a stern talking to and it was getting better. Even with the changing light and wind conditions, I kept my eyes and my pre-shot routine the same, stayed focused, and it just worked out.” Skinner also won bronze in the Junior division at the 2014 National Championships. On the Junior Men’s side, Dale Royer (Jackson, Montana) won his championship title by equaling the Junior Finals World Record of 48 targets. Reynolds also claimed silver in the Junior competition, and the bronze medal went to 2018 Junior

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

Men’s Trap World Championship silver medalist Logan Lucas (Pacific, Missouri). Victoria Hendrix (Glendale, Arizona) won the Junior Women’s Trap title in her Finals debut and shot a personal record in her first 125 targets of the match. “I shot off for the number one bib and then this!” said Hendrix of her win. “I’ve only really been intentionally shooting this for eight months. Next time I just need to keep doing as well!” The silver medal went to Ryann Phillips (Gail, Texas) and bronze went to Heather Broski (Spring Hill, Tennessee). Earlier in the competition, Senior Men and International Finals were also contested. Winning gold for the Seniors was Steve Loschen (Wilcox, Nebraska). Winning silver was David Senter (Saint Helens, Oregon) and winning bronze was Tommy Browning (Wooster, Arkansas). This match also served as the selection match for Trap Mixed Teams that would represent the United States at the Championship of the Americas (CAT Games) in November, as well as the ISSF World Cups in Acapulco, Mexico and Al Ain, United Arab Emirates in 2019. In addition to National Champion titles, National and National Junior Team appointments were at stake;

as well as prize money for the top overall finishers in each discipline, courtesy of our longtime team sponsor White Flyer. Trap Mixed Team The first National Champions in the new Olympic event of Trap Mixed Team were also crowned at the USA Shooting National Championships for Shotgun. After two days of competition, 150 targets, a Final and a Super Final in very windy, dusty conditions, the team of 2008 Olympic gold medalist Glenn Eller (Katy, Texas/U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit) and Skinner emerged as the gold medalists. “It was a good match, we kept it together and just shot as we needed to shoot,” said Eller. “We finished off Qualification great - then I started the Final badly - but Aeriel picked it up and we finished it out.” Eller/Skinner finished each day of Qualification with the highest overall score. “We joked earlier that you can’t feel comfortable with a nine-target lead until there are eight targets left!” said Skinner. “Turns out it kind of came true!” Eller/Skinner finished nine targets ahead of silver medalists Kayle Browning (Wooster, Arkansas) and Burrows. The team of two-time Olympic bronze medalist

Top left: Women’s Trap medalists. Top right: Women’s Skeet medalists. (Second row, l to r) Junior Women’s Skeet medalists, Men’s Senior Trap medalists, Victoria Hendrix. Bottom left: Eli Christman. Bottom right: Trap Mixed Team medalists.

Corey Cogdell-Unrein (Eagle River, Alaska) and Jake Wallace (Castaic, California) won bronze. Skeet National Championships ended with the crowning of Skeet National Champions on a cold, snowy day at the International Shooting Park just south of Fort Carson, Colorado.

After 250 targets of Qualification and a Final, 2017 Women’s Skeet National Champion Dania Vizzi (Odessa, Florida) repeated her title, battling wind, snow and unseasonably cold conditions for early October. Vizzi entered the Final with the top Qualification score of 243, then she battled to the end of the 60-shot Final to tie Sam Simonton (Gaines-

ville, Georgia) with 57 targets. The gold and silver medals were to be decided in a shootoff, with Vizzi winning, 4-3. “It was my first time shooting in snow so that was pretty exciting,” said Vizzi. “I also broke two of my personal records so that was the biggest accomplishment for me. I thought it was pretty nice to see the

target against the all-gray background, but I think the hardest part was my hands getting so cold. I’d be ‘Did I pull the trigger or not?’ The shootoff was fun and a good experience – especially with such a high score.” Austen Smith (Kellar, Texas), who won bronze in Junior Women’s Skeet at the ISSF World Championship in Changwon, South Korea,

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

National Championships for Shotgun

won the bronze medal in the Women’s Skeet competition. On the men’s side, Christian Elliott (Greenville, Indiana/U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit) won gold over his USAMU teammate Dustan Taylor (Staley, North Carolina). Elliott entered the Final with the top Qualification score of 246/250 targets. Elliott also won last year’s Junior Men’s Skeet National Championship title. Zach McBee (College Station, Texas) won the Men’s Skeet bronze medal. In the Junior Men’s Skeet Final, National Champion Eli Christman (Hixson, Tennessee) equaled the Junior Finals World Record of 58/60 targets for the top Finals performance of the day. Christman just missed out on a spot in the Open Final by one target, but he would then edge out his World Championship teammate and National Junior Olympic champion Nic Moschetti (Broomfield, Colorado) to win the gold medal. Moschetti won silver and Alex Ahlin (Bamberg, South Carolina) won the bronze medal. “It was mixed emotions going into this match for me, being that it’s my last one as a Junior,” said Christman. “Meant the world to me to go into it with my World Championship teammates. I battled with Nic at the end

of the Final at National Junior Olympics and he got me there, but we help make each other better.” Defending Junior Women’s Skeet National Champion Katie Jacob (Rochester, Michigan) successfully defended her title by winning gold with 50 targets in the Final. Jacob, who was hospitalized earlier in the week upon her arrival in Colorado Springs, battled more than the weather to repeat as National Champion. “It was very cold!” Jacob said. “It was a rough start for sure – starting out in the hospital and that – but I decided just to shoot because I wanted to, and I can’t stay away! Overall it turned out decent, I’m just happy to be here. I’m getting better. The cold made it difficult to feel my fingers and I almost dropped that last pass, but I’m kind of used to it, having to train in Michigan.” Taking the silver was Gracin Anderson (Englewood, Tennessee) and Karsyn Ross (Seguin, Texas) won the bronze.

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

Event Men's Skeet

Junior Men's Skeet

Women's Skeet

Junior Women's Skeet

Men's Trap

Junior Men's Trap

Women's Trap

Junior Women's Trap

Mixed Trap Team

Senior Men’s Trap

Top 3 Athletes (Hometowns) Christian Elliott (Greenwood, Ind./USAMU) Dustan Taylor (Staley, N.C./USAMU) Zach McBee (College Station, Texas) Eli Christman (Hixson, Tenn.) Nic Moschetti (Broomfield, Colo.) Alex Ahlin (Bamberg, S.C.) Dania Vizzi (Odessa, Fla.) Sam Simonton (Gainesville, Ga.) Austen Smith (Kellar, Texas) Katie Jacob (Rochester, Mich.) Gracin Anderson (Englewood, Tenn.) Karsyn Ross (Seguin, Texas) Caleb Lindsey (Spring Hill, Tenn.) Roe Reynolds (Quitman, Ark.) Brian Burrows (Fallbrook, Calif.) Dale Royer (Jackson, Mont.) Roe Reynolds (Quitman, Ark.) Logan Lucas (Pacific, Mo.) Aeriel Skinner (Jackson, Calif.) Emma Williams (Savannah, Tenn.) Ashley Carroll (Solvang, Calif.) Victoria Hendrix (Glendale, Ariz.) Ryann Phillips (Gail, Texas) Heather Broski (Spring Hill, Tenn.) Aeriel Skinner (Jackson, Calif.) / Glenn Eller (Katy, Texas/USAMU) Kayle Browning (Wooster, Ark.)/ Brian Burrows (Fallbrook, Calif.) Corey Cogdell-Unrein (Eagle River, Alaska) /Jake Wallace (Castaic, Calif.) Steven Loschen (Wilcox, Neb.) David Senter (Saint Helens, Ore.) Tommy Browning (Wooster, Ark.)

Shotgun Summer Selection

Shotgun Athletes to Open World Cup Season Chosen at Summer Selection Match More than 200 athletes weathered four days of competition, 250 targets and a Final in each of the Shotgun disciplines at the Summer Selection Match at the Hill County Shooting Sports Center in Kerrville, Texas. This match selected the Shotgun athletes who will compete in the first ISSF World Cups of the 2019 season in Acapulco, Mexico and Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. The first Olympic quotas of this quad will be available starting at these World Cup competitions. An Olympic quota is essentially a country’s ticket to compete in a specific event in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Some athletes shot more than 500 targets over eight days to earn a slot in multiple disciplines next year. Winning gold in Women’s Skeet and a silver in Women’s Trap was six-time Olympic medalist Kim Rhode. Rhode

(El Monte, California) announced after her gold-medal win in Women’s Skeet at the World Cup in Tucson, Arizona that she was training to compete in Trap in addition to her signature Skeet event. Rhode didn’t disappoint, finishing with the highest Qualification score in both events (246/250 in Skeet and 226/250 in Trap). In Skeet, she finished second in the Final to get two points added to her total for 248, but even with her fourth-place finish in the Trap Final, she still finished in second place overall with a final score of 226. (Three points were added to Qualification scores for first place, two for second and one for third in each Final). These World Cups won’t be the first time Rhode has shot multiple events. Three of her Olympic medals (gold medals in 2004 and 1996, as well as bronze in 2000) were won in her initial event of Double Trap. At the 2012

Men’s Trap (l to r) Brian Burrows, Glenn Eller, Alex Rennert.

Women’s Trap (l to r) Kim Rhode, Kayle Browning, Carey Garrison. Olympics, she qualified to compete in Trap and Skeet. She won gold in Women’s Skeet in 2012 setting multiple records, but also finished in ninth place in Women’s Trap. Rounding out the top three in Women’s Skeet was National Junior Olympic Shooting Champion (NJOSC) Austen Smith (Kellar, Texas) taking the silver, and Rhode’s World Championship teammate Amber English (U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit/Colorado Springs, Colorado) winning the bronze. While Smith’s win in the Final helped her land safely in the silver spot on the podium, English had to fight through a shootoff with Sam Simonton (Gainesville, Georgia) and Caitlin Connor (Winnfield, Louisiana) for the bronze medal. In the end, English hit both of her shootoff targets to win, with Simonton finishing in fourth

place and Connor finishing in fifth. Top honors in the Women’s Trap competition went to Kayle Browning (Wooster, Arkansas). Entering the Final, Browning shared the top score after Qualification with Rhode of 226. She also won the Final, garnering her the additional three points for the selection win. Taking bronze was then 13-year-old Carey Garrison (Crossville, Tennessee). Garrison won NJOSC earlier this summer and is the reigning Junior National Champion. At 13, she was also the youngest person to ever compete for USA Shooting on a World Championship Team. Garrison finished in second place in Qualification with 224. Following the Final, she was tied in selection points with Aeriel Skinner (Jackson, California) so the bronze medal was decided in a shootoff. Skinner missed the target

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

Women’s Skeet (l to r) Austen Smith, Kim Rhode, Amber English. and Garrison hit one to earn the bronze medal and Skinner finished fourth. In Men’s Skeet, two-time Olympic gold medalist Vincent Hancock (Eatonton, Georgia) won gold, two-time Olympian Frank Thompson (Alliance, Nebraska) won silver and Josh Raley (Gretna, Louisiana) won bronze. Hancock and Thompson went one-and-two throughout the match, with Hancock winning the Final and finishing Qualification with the top score of 247. Thompson

finished Qualification in second with a score of 245 and took second to Hancock in the Final by one target. Raley finished Qualification in third with a score of 244 and finished sixth in the Final, but he had enough of a lead that he landed in the bronze position. The World Cups next year will be Raley’s first on the ISSF circuit. The Men’s Trap side saw 2008 Olympic gold medalist Glenn Eller winning gold (Katy, Texas/USAMU), as well as some blasts from

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

Men’s Skeet (l to r) Frank Thompson, Vincent Hancock, Josh Raley. the pasts with their returns to international competition in Brian Burrows (Fallbrook, California), who took the silver and Alex Rennert (Surfside, Florida/USAMU) who took bronze. Eller finished atop Qualification with 239 and won the Final to easily win gold. Burrows shared the second position with a score of 237, but his third-place finish in the Final was enough to earn him the silver medal. Rennert, who had the lowest Qualification score in the

Final of 235 finished second in the Final to give him two additional points and the bronze medal. Burrows hasn’t competed in a World Cup since the 2016 Olympic test event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Rennert will make his World Cup debut in 2019. The Shotgun athletes to compete at the rest of the World Cups next year will be selected at the Spring Selection Match in 2019, date and location to be determined.

Athlete(s)

Medal

Event

Michael McPhail (Darlington, Wis./USAMU)* Vincent Hancock (Eatonton, Ga.)* Caitlin Connor (Winnfield, La.)* Kim Rhode (El Monte, Calif.)* Amber English (Colorado Springs, Colo./USAMU) Caitlin Connor (Winnfield, La.), Kim Rhode (El Monte, Calif.), Amber English (Colorado Springs, Colo./USAMU)

Bronze Gold Gold Silver Bronze

Men's Prone Rifle Men’s Skeet

Will Shaner (Colorado Springs, Colo.)

Bronze

Henry Leverett (Bainbridge, Ga.)

Silver

Logan Lucas (Pacific, Mo.) Nic Moschetti (Broomfield, Colo.)

Silver Silver

Katelyn Abeln (Douglasville, Ga.)

Silver

Austen Smith (Kellar, Texas)

Bronze

Michael McPhail (Darlington, Wis./USAMU), Matt Emmons (Browns Mills, N.J.), Lucas Kozeniesky (Fairfax, Va.) Glenn Eller (Katy, Texas), Jake Wallace (Castaic, Calif.), Grayson Davey (Anchorage, Alaska) Ashley Carroll (Solvang, Calif.), Kayle Browning (Wooster, Ark.), Aeriel Skinner (Jackson, Calif.) Morgan Phillips (Salisbury, Md.), Elizabeth Marsh (Searcy, Ark.), Kristen Hemphill (Lohn, Texas) Morgan Phillips (Salisbury, Md.), Elizabeth Marsh (Searcy, Ark.), Katie Zaun (Buffalo, N.D.) Carey Garrison (Crossville, Tenn.),Maddy Bernau (Waterford, Wis.), Emma Williams (Savannah, Tenn.) Katie Jacob (Rochester, Mich.), Sam Simonton (Gainesville, Ga.), Austen Smith (Kellar, Texas)

Gold

Women’s Skeet Women’s Skeet Team Junior Men’s Prone Rifle Junior Men’s Sport Pistol Junior Men’s Trap Junior Men’s Skeet Junior Women’s Sport Pistol Junior Women’s Skeet

Silver

Men’s Prone Rifle Team

Silver

Men’s Trap Team

Bronze

Women’s Trap Team

Silver Bronze

Junior Women’s Three-Position Rifle Team Junior Women’s Prone Rifle Team

Bronze

Junior Women’s Trap Team

Silver

Junior Women’s Skeet Team

* Secured U.S. Olympic Quota End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

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2018 Every four years doesn’t just mark the Olympic and Paralympic Games, but for international-style shooting enthusiasts, it also marks the ISSF World Championship for Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun, which ran August 31 – September 15 in Changwon, South Korea. The 52nd ISSF World Championship was the largest gathering of international-style shooting competitors vying for World Championship glory, as well as the 60 Olympic quotas up for grabs during the two-week-long Championship. An Olympic quota is essentially a country’s ticket to compete in a specific event in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. The World Championship is the first opportunity for shooting athletes to earn Olympic quotas. An athlete can only earn one quota for his/her country and a country may earn up to two quotas per event. Nearly 100 athletes, coaches and staff made their way to Changwon to represent the United States in this World Championship where 1,804 athletes from 90 countries gathered to compete in not only the 15 Olympic events, but the Junior competitions in each

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of those events, as well as the non-Olympic events. This year’s team of 82 athletes was the largest team ever fielded by USA Shooting at a World Championship and was comprised of athletes from 31 states and includes 12 Olympians among its ranks. The United States picked up its first two medals on the second day of competition. Both medals came in the Trap Team events – silver in Men’s Trap Team and bronze in Junior Women’s

Trap Team. Team medals are based on the combined Qualification scores of the three athletes from a given country competing in a specific event. 2008 Olympic gold medalist and former Double Trap specialist Glenn Eller (Katy, Texas/U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit) was the top finisher in Men’s Trap Qualification with a score of 123/125 tar-

gets. Eller made his international debut in Trap this year on the ISSF World Cup circuit when his signature event was eliminated. Eller, however, was the first athlete eliminated in the Final, hitting 17/25 targets to finish in sixth place. Eller’s finish marks only the second time a Men’s Trap athlete has qualified for a World Championship Final

Top: The USA Shooting Team prepares to go to the Opening Ceremony. Middle: Sarah Choe and Katelyn Abeln get interviewed and photographed by Korean media. Bottom: Caitlin Connor raises her gun as the U.S. sweeps the Women’s Skeet podium.

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

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since 2006. Eller’s highest finish prior to this in Men’s Trap was 15th place at the World Cup in Malta. His USAMU teammate, Derek Haldeman, finished in fifth place at last year’s Shotgun World Championship in Moscow, Russia. The last time the United States won a Men’s Trap team medal was in 2006 when Lance Bade, Brett Erickson and Matthew Wallace won team bronze in 2006. Erickson also won an

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individual bronze medal in Men’s Trap that year too. All medal-winning teams - gold medalists Kuwait and bronze medalists Italy - tied with a cumulative score of 360, so medals were determined by a tie-breaking countback rule. Finishing in 18th place in his World Championship debut was 17-year-old Grayson Davey (Anchorage, Alaska), who hit 120 targets. Jake Wallace (Castaic, California) finished in 40th place with a

score of 117. With two of the three Junior Women’s Trap team members making their international competition debut at this World Championship, a team bronze medal is a nice souvenir for team members Emma Williams (Savannah, Tennessee), National Junior Champion and National Junior Olympic Champion Carey Garrison (Crossville, Tennessee) and Madelynn Bernau (Waterford, Wisconsin). Williams finished just two

rifle targets out of a potential Finals berth with a score of 113/125, which earned her ninth place – her highest World Championship finish to date (Williams finished in 10th place at last year’s Shotgun World Championship in Russia). Garrison finished in 10th place with a score of 112. Bernau finished in 25th place with a score of 101. In Women’s Air Rifle, Sarah Beard (Danville, Indiana) was the top American finisher in 36th place with a score of 624.0. Mindy Miles (Weatherford, Texas) finished in 55th place with a score of 622.2 and Ali Weisz (Belgrade, Montana) finished in 66th place with a score of 620.8. In Men’s Air Rifle, Bryant Wallizer (Little Orleans, Maryland) was the top U.S. finisher in 45th place with a score of 622.7. Dempster Christenson (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) finished in 54th place with a score of 621.9 and 2016 Olympian Lucas Kozeniesky (Fairfax, Virginia) finished in 57th place with a score of 621.4. The Men’s Prone Team of three-time Olympic medalist Matt Emmons, two-time Olympian Michael McPhail

Left: Morgan Phillips finished in fourth in Junior Women’s Three-Position Rifle. Top: Michael McPhail takes a podium selfie after winning bronze in Men’s Three-Position Rifle. Bottom: Women’s Trap Team gives “finger hearts” on the podium, a Korean gesture of sending love.

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

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(pictured) and Kozeniesky won a team silver medal in the 50m Men’s Prone Rifle event on the third day of competition. “Michael had a brilliant match, knowing they could be in contention and facing some of the most variable, fastest and continually changing conditions,” said National Rifle Coach Bob Foth. Facing choppy winds throughout the match, Emmons (Browns Mills, New Jersey) and Kozeniesky anxiously watched McPhail’s performance on the following relay to the end where he would post the highest score of his relay (624.5), giving the U.S. enough points to secure the silver medal. In unusually challenging wind conditions that had the top Prone shooters around the world perplexed by the wind flag movements, the top finish for the U.S. came from two-time Olympian McPhail who finished

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in 13th place with a score of 624.0. Kozeniesky finished in 15th place with a score of 623.9 and Emmons finished in 16th place with a score of 623.8. In Junior Women’s Air Pistol, Sarah Choe (Los Angeles, California) posted the top finish for the United States with a score of 564 for 23rd place. Katelyn Abeln (Douglasville, Georgia) finished in 33rd place with a score of 562 and Kellie Foster (Rockdale, Texas) finished in 43rd place with a score of 559. In Junior Mixed Air Rifle

Team, the team of Sarah Osborn (Hampton, Virginia, 415.1) and Will Shaner (Colorado Springs, Colorado, 415.8) finished in 11th place with a combined score of 830.9. The team of Elizabeth Marsh (Searcy, Arkansas, 410.0) and Logan Ogden (Galway, New York, 414.0) finished in 30th place with a combined score of 824.0. Logan Lucas won the first individual medal for the United States at the World Championship when he won

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silver in the Junior Men’s Trap event. Lucas (Pacific, Missouri), who has only been shooting International Trap for the past year and a half, made his international Finals debut at this World Championship, qualifying for the Final by tying for the highest score (120/125 targets), then winning a shootoff 9-8 to enter the Final with the best bib number. That bib number would come into play when the

Left: Men’s Trap wins a team silver medal. Middle: Logan Lucas raises gun in triumph after winning silver in Junior Men’s Trap. Right: Junior Women’s Trap team celebrates bronze. Bottom: Katelyn Abeln shoots to silver in Junior Women’s Sport Pistol.

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field came down to the final three athletes – Lucas, Steven Argio of Australia and Lorenzo Ferrari of Italy. After 40 targets, Lucas and Ferrari were tied at 31 hits. Lucas had the better bib number (which is used for tie-breaking purposes in a Final), so Ferrari was eliminated and took the bronze medal. Entering the final five targets, it looked as if Argio had all but sealed up the win. Argio would drop one target, then later two in a row. The Final was decided on the Final shot when Argio would win the gold with his final hit that gave him 42 targets to Lucas’ 41. “I knew entering the Final I just needed to be calm,” Lucas said. “I’m not a very calm person. I try to take stress the best I can – that’s something I’m going to be

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working on with [National Coach Jay Waldron] – but knew I had to keep going strong, breathe between every target and just take my time. Even at the end, I knew I just had to keep going strong – don’t let up. There was still that possibility that [Argio] could mess up, we could tie and send this thing to a shootoff.” The last time the United States won a medal in Junior Men’s Trap was in 1997 when Matthew Depuydt won bronze in 1997. This World Championship is Lucas’ second international competition.

Also competing in Junior Men’s Trap was Dale Royer (Jackson, Montana), who finished in 16th place with 113 targets. Mick Wertz (Muncy, Pennsylvania) finished in 27th place with a score of 110. The USA Shooting Team finished in fourth place with a score of 343 - just two targets out of a team bronze medal. The USA Shooting Women’s Trap team wouldn’t secure a Finals berth but would win a team bronze medal with a combined score of 339. Spain won the team silver with a score of 342 and Italy won the team gold with a score of 343, setting a world record. The top finisher for the U.S. women in Trap was Kayle Browning (Wooster, Arkansas) who finished in 11th

place with a score of 114. Ashley Carroll (Solvang, California) also shot a 114, but placed in 14th place. Aeriel Skinner (Jackson, California) finished in 30th place with a score of 111. Junior Men’s Air Pistol athlete Jack Leverett III (Bainbridge, Georgia) missed out on a potential Finals berth by just one point with his score of 573 to finish in ninth place. Leverett’s finish was the best finish for an American Junior in Men’s Air Pistol since Will Brown finished in 11th place at the World Championship in 2010. The U.S. has never medaled in this event at a World Championship. Leverett bested his previous Junior World Championship finish last year in Suhl, Germany where he finished in 24th place. Also competing in this event was his brother, Henry Leverett (Bainbridge, Georgia) who finished in 44th place with a score of 557. Kyler Swisher (Palmyra, Pennsylvania) finished in 50th place with a score of 555. In Men’s Air Pistol, the top American finisher was 2012 Olympian Nick Mowrer (Butte, Montana) who finished in 26th place with a score of 577. James Hern-

Top left: Nic Moschetti shoots to Junior Men’s Skeet silver. Middle: Michael McPhail waves to the crowd after winning bronze in Men’s ThreePosition Rifle. Right: Will Shaner on the podium for bronze in Junior Men’s Prone Rifle.

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PISTOL

don (Missoula, Montana) finished in 80th place with a score of 567 and James Hall (Columbia, Missouri) finished in 81st place with a score of 566. McPhail won the bronze medal in Men’s 50m ThreePosition Rifle. The medal is the first Men’s 50m ThreePosition World Championship medal for the United States since Tom Tamas won silver in the event back in 1994. Along with his bronze-medal win, McPhail earned the United States’

i ss f w o r l d c h a mp i o n s h i p shotgun first Olympic quota in Shooting for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. “That feeling in the Final is something I haven’t felt in a long time,” said McPhail, beaming. He took a break from international competition following the 2016 ISSF World Cup Final where he won gold in Men’s Prone Rifle. The last international event where he shot Men’s Three-Position Rifle was the 2014 World Championship. “Being in that Final was kind of nice. It was nice to hear

your name, your legs shaking, heart beating – it’s really one of the things that makes this sport fun. If you get into a Final and that’s not happening, it’s not a whole lot of fun anymore. For the first time in a long time, I got that feeling back.” McPhail, 36, finished Qualification in the eighth and last position with his score of 1177 – a best for him in international competition. He was tied with Hungarian Istvan Peni in integer score as time ran out, so the

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tie for the last Finals position was broken on X count, or “inner tens” – shots inside a smaller circle within the 10-ring; strictly used for tiebreaking purposes. McPhail won on X count, 67-62. “Kneeling was fine – would have liked to get three more points out of it – but I walked back off the line and I said to whomever was sitting behind me, ‘We’re down six, but the leader is going to be six down after Prone!’ so I got back down there. I was kind of a little

Top left: Austen Smith wins bronze in Junior Women’s Skeet. Right: Henry Leverett receives silver in Junior Men’s Sport Pistol. Bottom left: Vincent Hancock wins gold in Men’s Skeet.

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

PISTOL pressed for time, so I hurried up and shot a quick 400 [in Prone], which was kind of fortunate,” said the twotime Olympian and former Prone Rifle specialist. “I got up, took a little more time – been doing that lately, just getting everything to calm down – and [my Standing stage] was good. My score didn’t reflect how I shot. The shots were just out [of where I thought they should go] and I just squeaked into that Final!” Once in the Final, McPhail

shotgun jumped to second place early in the Kneeling stage, even moving between first and second throughout the next series in Prone. “The plan in the Final was to get everything set and get off to a quick start,” McPhail said. “Just make the match shorter. If we can get through slings – I would say I’m a pretty decent sling shooter – and get out of slings with some kind of lead, then fight the rest of those guys off for the next 15 shots! Prone and Kneeling are fine, but when I

get to Standing, my old body doesn’t move the way I have it pictured in my mind. It just doesn’t get there!” Once in the Standing series in the Final, McPhail held on until his 43rd and 44th shot –an 8.9 and 9.4 – that would eliminate him in the bronze-medal position. “I do a pretty good job of shooting the bullet in the chamber – not the one waiting or the one that’s already gone. Just shoot one shot, and that’s the only one that matters, and I shot today. I

rifle was aggressive when I needed to be. I just shot a good match.” The gold medal went to Tomasz Bartnik of Poland and the silver medal went to Peter Gorsa of Croatia. Emmons finished in 13th place with a score of 1175. Kozeniesky finished in 27th place with a score of 1173. Junior Air Rifle athletes got their turn on the line as well. The top finish for the Junior U.S. men came from Shaner, who just missed a potential Finals berth by 1.1

Top left: Sarah Choe finishes sixth in Women’s Sport Pistol. Top right: Sam Simonton finishes sixth in Junior Women’s Skeet. Bottom left: Emma Williams and Logan Lucas finish fifth in Junior Trap Mixed Team. Bottom right: Jason Spaude makes debut in Target Sprint.

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

PISTOL points with a score of 625.0 to finish in 10th place. Ogden finished in 45th place with a score of 616.3 and Matt Sanchez (Tampa, Florida) finished in 58th place with a score of 613.4. On the Women’s side, Emily Stith (Jacksonville, Florida/USAMU) was the top finisher in 23rd with a score of 622.7. Marsh finished in 30th place with a score of 621.5. Osborn was in 37th place with a score of 620.1. In the Trap Mixed Team event, the team of Browning and Will Hinton (Dacula, Georgia/USAMU) finished in 11th place with a combined score of 140/150 targets. The team of Cogdell-Unrein and Wallace finished in 47th place with a combined score of 123. Winning silver in 25m Junior Women’s Sport Pistol was Abeln. She entered the Final with a score of 576, the fifth-highest score in Qualification. Qualifying for the Final as well in the top position was Choe who finished the match with a score of 582 – a score that would have put her just two points out of a potential Finals berth in the Open (Adult) 25m Women’s Sport Pistol competition at this year’s World Championship. Once in the Final, Abeln jumped to the front of the pack early, sharing the lead with eventual gold medalist Xiaoyu Wang of China. After the first six series, Wang and Abeln were tied with 18 hits, but Wang would pull away with three perfect, five-shot

shotgun series to secure the gold with 37 hits. Abeln fought through two shootoff series with eventual bronze medalist Anna Dedova of the Czech Republic to win the silver medal with 27 hits. Choe was eliminated in sixth place with 11 hits. “I wasn’t expecting this!” said Abeln. “I didn’t have any expectations. I haven’t had bad competitions, but not what I’ve wanted over the past couple months. Going into Sport Pistol, I was just here to finish it...and I just thought ‘Hey, it’s the home stretch.’ Didn’t expect to make Finals at all after Stage One but got into Stage Two and just gave it all I had. I just tried to finish strong and I did!” Abeln’s highest finish at the World Championship in this event prior to this was when she finished in 25th place in last year’s Junior World Championship in Suhl, Germany. Choe finished in 14th place at that same World Championship – her highest finish prior to this competition. Abeln said she didn’t even know she made the Final until she heard Assistant Pistol Coach Libby Callahan yell “USA! USA!” and thought it was because Choe had qualified for the Final. “I thought Sarah made Finals and I was like ‘Yes!’ But then I turned around and my dad pointed at me. I was like ‘What? Really?’ I was shocked,” Abeln said. “This was my first international Final so making it with Sarah

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

was like a dream come true. We hang out all the time. She’s who I spend all my time with at competitions.” The last World Championship medal won in this event by the United States was in 1998 when Lauren Santibanez won bronze. The United States has never before had two athletes in an international Final in Junior Women’s 25m Sport Pistol. Also competing in the 25m Junior Women’s Sport Pistol event was Abbie Leverett (Bainbridge, Georgia), who finished in 37th place with a score of 554. She, Choe and Abeln finished in fourth place in the team event – just two points out of a potential team bronze medal. Also making a Finals appearance was the Junior Mixed Trap Team of Williams and Lucas. The team finished Qualification with a combined score of 137/150 targets. Once in the Final, they hit a combined 21 targets and were eliminated in fifth place. Lucas won the Junior Men’s Trap silver medal just two days prior. The team of Royer and Garrison finished in 12th place with a combined score of 128 targets. In Women’s 50m ThreePosition Rifle, Sagen Maddalena (Groveland, California) finished in 26th place with a score of 1165. Beard finished in 42nd place with a score of 1160 and Mackensie Martin (Murray, Kentucky) finished in 45th place with a score of 1158.

rifle The top finish in Women’s 25m Sport Pistol for the United States came from 2012 Olympian Sandra Uptagrafft (Phenix City, Alabama), who finished in 30th place with a score of 579. Alexis Lagan (Boulder City, Nevada) finished in 33rd place with a score of 578 and 2008 Olympian Brenda Silva (Snowflake, Arizona) finished in 62nd place with a score of 569. Shaner claimed the Junior Men’s 50m Prone Rifle bronze, and the Junior Women’s 50m Prone Rifle Team won the team bronze medal. The top-three positions in Junior Men’s 50m Prone Rifle were separated by just 1.5 points, with constantly changing wind conditions testing athletes in all Prone Rifle competitions. Shaner won the bronze medal with a score of 618.2. “It was definitely a rough day for the wind, just tried to take my shots when I was nice and calm,” said Shaner. “The wind definitely picked up during my second and third [10-shot] strings. I kind of had problems there compensating - I just had to trust myself during those strings but after those, I kind of got out, got back in, and I just started shooting like I know how. I took clean shots like I know how and was able to finish strong.” Shaner shot a score of 101.1 and 102.9 in his second and third strings over the 10 shots in each. His best 10-shot string was his sixth and final string of

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Men’s Rapid Fire Pistol Final by posting the second-highest Qualification score of 582. Once in the Final, Leverett fell to the back of the pack early with just two hits in his first series. By his third

104.6 – the highest string of anyone in the competition. “My score was low enough that I thought it was going to take a 624 to win. In my mind I was kind of like ‘We’re low, but we’re just going to do our best. We’re going to keep pushing.’ I was kind of unhappy, got out, looked around and saw I was in third so I guess it was good enough!” Shaner also won gold at the Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany earlier this year. This finish marked his second-highest finish internationally. The last time the United States won a medal in Junior Men’s 50m Prone Rifle at the World Championships was in 2002 when Joe

Hein won gold. As Prone Rifle is no longer an Olympic event, Finals were not contested in these events and medals were based on Qualification performance. Team medals were based on the cumulative score of a nation’s athletes in Qualification. Matthew Liao (Yorba Linda, California) finished in 38th place with a score of 608.5 and 13-year-old Braden Peiser (San Angelo, Texas) finished in 48th place with a score of 600.8. The Junior Women’s 50m Prone Rifle bronze was won by the United States with their cumulative score of 1846.3. The U.S. team won silver in this event at last

year’s Junior World Championship in Suhl. The top finisher for the U.S. in Junior Women’s 50m Prone Rifle was Morgan Phillips (Salisbury, Maryland), who finished in fifth place with a score of 618.8. Phillips won gold in this event at the Junior World Cup in Suhl earlier this year, setting a Junior World Record of 626.8. Katie Zaun (Buffalo, North Dakota) finished in 19th place with a score of 614.2 and Marsh finished in 25th place with a score of 613.3. Henry Leverett missed out on a medal by the narrowest of margins – he was eliminated in fourth place following a shootoff in the Final of the Junior Men’s Rapid Fire Pistol event. He qualified for the Junior

and fourth series, he had two series of perfect scores of five hits to move up the leaderboard. After the sixth series, Leverett and eventual bronze medalist Zhipeng Cheng of China were tied at 21 hits. Cheng emerged victorious in the shootoff to win the bronze medal. Haoje Zhu of China won the gold and Jaekyoon Lee of South Korea won the silver. Leverett’s fourth-place finish bested his sixth-place finish at the Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany earlier this year with this performance. It’s also the highest finish for the United States in Junior Men’s Rapid Fire Pistol at the World Championship since Joseph Gonzalez won gold in 1994. Leverett’s score of 582 would also set

Top left: Henry Leverett finishes in fourth in Junior Men’s Rapid Fire Pistol. Middle: Sarah Beard and Dempster Christenson compete in Air Rifle Mixed Team. Bottom right: Junior Women’s Prone Rifle team wins bronze.

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a new Junior National Record. “The one in Suhl was a great introduction – I didn’t do so great, but it was a great learning opportunity,” said Leverett. “Whereas here, I’m getting a little better, getting used to the international Final aspect, getting used to everything – I think that helped me to do better in this one. The shootoff was interesting. I was hoping there wasn’t going to be one but of course there was one! Shootoffs are always really fun, and I wasn’t shaking, I wasn’t nervous, I was just in the moment performing and just some of my shots were just below nines so not quite a hit. I’ll get them next time.” Jack Leveret III finished in 11th place in Junior Men’s Rapid Fire Pistol with a score of 572 and Paul Kang (Los Angeles, California) finished in 30th place with a score of 538. In Men’s Rapid Fire Pistol, three-time Olympian Keith Sanderson (Colorado

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Springs, Colorado) finished in 23rd place with a score of 577. Brian Kim (Los Angeles, California) finished in 49th place with a score of 566 and Alex Chichkov (Temple Terrace, Florida) finished in 58th place with a score of 559. Shaner posted the highest U.S. finish of 31st place in Junior Men’s Three-Position Rifle with a score of 1144. Peter Fiori, Jr. (Lebanon, New Jersey) finished in 32nd place with a score of 1144 and Buchanan finished in 41st place with a score of 1134. The 300m Prone Rifle competitions for Men and Women were also contested in challenging wind conditions at the Jinhae Naval Shooting Range. The top finisher in the Men’s event was McPhail who finished in sixth place with a score of 588 – just two points out of bronze-medal position. Johnny Whidden, Jr. (Nashville, Georgia) finished in 27th place with a score of

581. On the Women’s side, Beard finished in 13th place with a score of 580. Reya Kempley (Reno, Nevada) finished in 25th place with a score of 573 and Denise Loring (Manassas, Virginia) finished in 32nd place with a score of 562. September 11 was the busiest day for the USA Shooting Team as the United States’ won six medals at the World Championship; including a Junior Men’s Skeet silver medal, a Junior Women’s Three-Position Rifle team medal and a sweep of the Women’s Skeet podium. Winning her first international gold medal and the newly-crowned champion in Women’s Skeet was Caitlin Connor (Winnfield, Louisiana). Connor also won silver at the 2015 Shotgun World Championship in Lonato, Italy to close friend Morgan Craft. This day, however, Connor won gold, as well as the United States’ fourth Women’s Skeet World

Left: Men’s Prone Rifle Team won silver. Right: Sagen Maddalena competed in Women’s Three-Position Rifle.

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Championship title in a row. “I knew I was going to win after the 30th target – if that makes any sense – so I kind of wanted to cry the whole time!” Connor said, laughing and crying at the same time. “I was pretty emotional during that Final because I’ve never had the feeling during a Final that I was going to win and the whole time I thought ‘I’m going to win this thing!’ I wanted to cry after my third pass through! I just kept thinking ‘Stay strong, focus on what you’re doing, and it will be fine.’” Connor had to battle all the way to the end in the Final, besting her childhood idol-then-teammate Rhode (El Monte, California) on the Final station to win 57-56 targets. In the Final, Connor hadn’t missed a target until her 35th and 36th target. “When I dropped those two on Station Four, I’m sure a lot of people thought I fell apart, but I literally just had a bad mount. I mounted really quickly,” Connor said. “I

PISTOL was like ‘Come on!’ I walked off, I missed two, I knew what I did - just calm down. I missed a target on Station Five because of a mental thing, but it was really smooth otherwise and I was really proud of it. It pretty much came down to the last two targets for the gold and I knew I had broken that pair a hundred times. I felt really confident and good about it.” Rhode went on to claim the silver medal, the fourth World Championship medal of her career. Amber English (Colorado Springs, Colorado/USAMU) won the bronze medal with 46 targets. English also won Junior Women’s Skeet silver back in 2009. “I’m happy for Caitlin,” said Rhode. “She worked her butt off.” The pair could be seen during the match giving each other congratulatory fist bumps after a good station. The last time the United

shotgun States had swept an Open podium at a World Championship was in 1974 when John Writer, Lones Wigger and Lanny Bassham swept the 50m Men’s Three-Position Rifle podium in Thun, Switzerland. “There was a lot of pressure going into this knowing that the United States had won the last three Women’s Skeet World Championship titles and originally I thought about that on the first round out,” Connor said. “But I think us sweeping was a big deal. Our United States’ Skeet shooting team is competitive – even our Junior women are very competitive. I have to say winning a medal overseas is nowhere near as challenging as making a team in the United States. That’s the biggest challenge.” In addition to the podium sweep, the United States claimed the maximum number of two Olympic Games quotas available in Women’s

Skeet. Connor, Rhode and English also won gold as a team in Women’s Skeet. Italy won silver and Cyprus won the bronze. The United States has won team gold at the previous two World Championship as well in 2017 and 2015. Winning individual silver was Nic Moschetti (Broomfield, Colorado) in Junior Men’s Skeet. Moschetti dropped his last target in the Final to take silver 55-54 to gold medalist Elia Sdruccioli of Italy. “The scores over here have been incredible for a Junior match,” Moschetti said. “I was lucky enough to walk into the Final after a shootoff with bib Number One – which is always good to enter at the top of the pack. Struggled a bit but was able to pull it through and regain some ground after a couple passes. Made for an exciting finish!” Moschetti was in a three-

rifle way tie for the top spot after Qualification with a score of 121. Moschetti won the shootoff to have the top bib number. During the elimination for the bronze medal, Moschetti was tied with Gurnihal Singh Garcha of India with 46 targets. Since Moschetti had the better bib number, he was able to continue in the competition. When Moschetti missed his last target, Sdruccioli hit it to win the gold. Eli Christman (Hixson, Tennessee) finished in 15th place with a score of 116 targets and Alex Ahlin (Bamberg, South Carolina) finished in 37th place with a score of 109. In Junior Women’s ThreePosition Rifle, Phillips was the top finisher for the United States in fourth place. She entered the Final with the top Qualification score of 1171. Once in the Final, Phillips led after the Kneeling and Prone stages. Once in the Standing stage, Phillips

Left: Glenn Eller finishes sixth in Men’s Trap. Right: Mindy Miles competes in Women’s Air Rifle.

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

PISTOL shot an 8.9 on the fourthplace elimination shot for an ending score of 434.3. Marsh finished in 20th place with a score of 1148 and Kristen Hemphill (Lohn, Texas) finished in 32nd place with a score of 1142. The team of Phillips, Marsh and Hemphill won a team silver medal for their cumulative score in this event. China won the team gold medal and Russia won the team bronze medal. Beard finished in fifth place in the Women’s 300m Three-Position Rifle event. Beard shot a score of 1154. Kempley finished in 23rd place with a score of 1117 and Loring finished in 30th place with a score of 1053. The United States also had its first competitor in the Target Sprint competition at a World Championship. Jason Spaude (Saginaw, Michigan) finished in seventh place in his first Men’s Target Sprint competition. In Men’s 300m Standard Rifle, Bradley Yliniemi (Duluth, Minnesota) finished in 27th place with a score of 554 and Mark Gould (El Segundo, California) finished in 31st place with a score of 549. Henry Leverett won silver in Junior Men’s 25m Sport Pistol. Leverett and Jack Leveret III were tied with a score of 288 following the first of two stages (Precision). During the Rapid Fire stage, Henry Leverett firmly secured the silver medal with a score of 584. “The Precision part – the

shotgun first part of it – isn’t may favorite part, but it went pretty smoothly,” said Leverett. “I was just looking forward to the Rapid stage because it’s faster and I like it better. Sport Pistol has always been a fun match to shoot. The Rapid Fire Pistol competition definitely helped me get ready for this because it’s the first shot of the Rapid series in Sport Pistol. I think it helped me a lot because I’ve been just dry firing all week long.” Jack Leverett III finished in sixth place with a score of 578. Yi finished in 29th place with a score of 558. The Junior Men’s 25m Sport Pistol Team also just missed out on a bronze medal by one point with their cumulative score of 1720 to finish in fourth place. The Men’s 25m Centerfire Pistol event also took place with the highest American finish coming from Sanderson in 11th place with a score of 581. Chichkov finished in 22nd place with a score of 576 and Konstantin Pitsoulis (Brooklyn, New York) finished in 46th place with a score of 550. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Vincent Hancock picked up his fourth World Championship title in Men’s Skeet to close the World Championship. Along with the gold, Hancock (Eatonton, Georgia) also secured an Olympic quota for the United States with a flourish – dropping just one target throughout the entire match, early in

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

the Final. “I kind of treated all of the World Cups before this as a stepping stone to get here, and this is just another stepping stone to get to the Olympics,” said Hancock, who won gold at all of the World Cups in which he competed this year: Acapulco, Mexico, Changwon and Siggiewi, Malta. He sat out the World Cup in Tucson, Arizona to compete in the Summer Selection Match and prepare for the World Championship. “The whole goal was to make sure I got a quota first and foremost, but I told myself if I could hit every target, I’ll be able to get the quota and win a gold medal. I was just trying to focus on doing the best I could and let God take care of the rest.” Hancock started the two days of competition hitting a perfect 125/125 in dark, rainy conditions to equal the Qualification World Record. Once in the Final, he only dropped the eighth target over the entire match to equal the Finals World Record. “It was kind of nervewracking at first, but I recognized what was going on,” said Hancock of the one missed target of his match. “I had seen it before; the high house was kind of moving in and out and up and down as well. The biggest change you’ll feel as an athlete is when it goes in and out because it’s a depth perception issue, and it’s a timing issue. If it’s a little further out, you have to

rifle move a little slower with the target. I shot the first target, then I picked it up [in my vision] right when it went into the puff of that first target. When it exited out, I was already way out in front, but then I stopped and just shot right behind it. Once I saw that, I knew I just had to hit the first one and make a really elongated move to the second target. That kind of put me in the right frame of mind to just focus on the target and shoot it right where it is at and it paid off.” This performance was the third time in 2018 that Hancock has finished a Final with 59/60 targets, equaling the World record set by today’s bronze medalist Riccardo Filippelli and Great Britain’s Ben Llewellin. When Hancock completed the last station of the Final, he knew silver medalist Erik Watndal of Norway couldn’t catch him in targets and Hancock triumphantly pumped his fist in the air. Watndal hit 55/60 targets in the Final to win the silver medal. “Shooting in the rain is not fun, in any conditions,” said Hancock. “Thankfully when it was coming down, it was always at our sides or coming down behind us. When it’s not blowing in your face and getting on your glasses, it makes it a lot easier to see the targets. If I can see the target, I can break it, so with the low clouds and the mountain in the background, the targets are surprisingly bright.” Hancock has won three gold medals

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in the three matches he’s competed in at the Changwon International Shooting Range. Hancock became the first person ever to win four World titles in Men’s Skeet, eclipsing Abdullah Alrashidi of Kuwait and Jury Tsuranov of the Soviet Union. Hancock is also now one of three men in the Shotgun discipline to earn four world titles in his career, joining Michel Carrega of France and Giovanni Pellielo of Italy. Also competing in Men’s Skeet was two-time Olympian Frank Thompson (Alliance, Nebraska) who finished in 45th place with 119 targets, and Phillip Jungman (Caldwell, Texas/USAMU) who finished in 65th place with a score of 116 targets. The Men’s Skeet team of Hancock, Thompson and Jungman also finished just one target out of a team bronze medal with their cumulative score of 360. Winning bronze in Junior Women’s Skeet shortly before Hancock won gold was Austen Smith (Kellar, Texas), who just happens to have Hancock as a coach. Smith had to earn her spot in the Final through a three-way

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shootoff after her Qualification score of 114, which included her teammate and 2017 World Champion Katie Jacob (Rochester, Michigan). Smith would win the shootoff with four targets. Jacob did not advance to the Final and finished in seventh place overall. “It was crazy, to say the least!” said Smith. “The conditions, I’ve never shot over here before, just trying to get used to everything. It was really unexpected to get on the podium. I’m just really happy I was able to medal! The shootoff was extremely tense. Was hoping we [my teammates] could all be in there, so it was stressful – probably gave myself some ulcers!” Sam Simonton (Gainesville, Georgia) finished Qualification tied for the top score of 117 with eventual gold medalist Yufei Che of China. Simonton would be eliminated in the Final in the sixth position with 16 targets. When it came to the thirdplace elimination, Smith and Zhengyi Song of China were tied with 43 targets. Smith, however, had the lower bib number and thus was eliminated in the bronze medal

position. Smith also won silver at the 2017 Shotgun World Championship. Song went on to claim the silver medal. “This match she had some struggles on a couple different rounds, but it’s more about getting her in the right frame of mind – and that’s not me, it’s her,” said Hancock. “I had a talk with her before her last round, and just told her to be herself, because she wasn’t being that. She came back and I’m just super proud of her. If you ask her, she won’t be happy with a bronze medal, but that’s just because she expects so much from herself. I told her to be proud because I am – she did a great job.” The team of Smith, Simonton and Jacob also won team silver with their cumulative score of 345. China claimed the gold and Russia earned the bronze medal. Smith, Simonton and Jacob also won team gold at the 2017 Shotgun World Championship. Men’s and Junior Men’s 25m Standard Pistol was also contested on the last day. On the Junior side, Jack Leveret III finished in fifth

place with a score of 563. Yi finished in 28th place with a score of 538. Kevin Bennett (Belmont, Massachusetts) finished in 29th place with a score of 500. In Men’s 25m Standard Pistol, Sanderson finished in 33rd place with a score of 557, Chichkov finished in 43rd place with a score of 547 and Hall finished in 47th place with a score of 541. In Men’s 300m Three-Position Rifle, Yliniemi finished in 31st place with a score of 1114. Gould finished in 34th place with a score of 1081 and Peter Fiori, Sr. (Lebanon, New Jersey) finished in 37th place with a score of 1048. Over the 15 days of competition, more than 1,800 athletes from 91 countries competed in more than 60 Olympic and non-Olympic shooting events across five disciplines. The USA Shooting Team earned 19 medals to finish in ninth place in the medal count, as well as four Olympic quotas. At the 2014 ISSF World Championship, the USA Shooting Team earned 17 medals and two Olympic quotas.

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

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Championship of the Americas

USA Shooting Wins 39 Medals, Eight Quotas At Championship of the Americas

The USA Shooting Team returned from the 12th Championship of the Americas (CAT) in Guadalajara, Mexico with 39 medals and eight Olympic quotas. Winning gold medals at CAT that garnered Olympic quotas for the United States were Dempster Christenson in Men’s Air Rifle (Sioux Falls, South Dakota), George Norton in Men’s Three-Position Rifle (Salina, Kansas/U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit), James Hall in Men’s Air Pistol (Columbia,

Missouri), Frank Thompson in Men’s Skeet (Alliance, Nebraska), Mindy Miles in Women’s Air Rifle (Weatherford, Texas), Sarah Beard in Women’s Three-Position Rifle (Danville, Indiana/ USAMU), Alexis Lagan in Women’s Sport Pistol (Boulder City, Nevada) and Kayle Browning in Women’s Trap

(Wooster, Arkansas). Overall, the USA Shooting team won 25 gold medals at CAT. The Shooting Confederation of the Americas (Confederaciòn Americana de Tiro - CAT) was founded and recognized by the ISSF in 1973 as the Continental Confederation for the Shoot-

ing Sport for all countries of the North and South America. Every four years, the shooting teams from North and South America meet at CAT to compete for Olympic and Pan American Games quotas. Eight Olympic quotas was the most won by any nation at CAT, while Canada, Chile, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru each secured one slot. Earning an Olympic

Clockwise, starting top left: Men’s and Women’s Prone Rifle Teams, George Norton celebrates Men’s Three-Position Rifle gold, Women’s Skeet medalists, Women’s Trap Team medalists, Women’s Sport Pistol Team medalists. Center: Gold medalists James Hall, Alexis Lagan and National Coach Jason Turner celebrate by jumping in the pool.

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

quota in competition ensures the country a spot in that particular event at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, not necessarily the athlete. Athletes will compete to earn Olympic Team slots, including the eight Olympic quotas earned in Guadalajara, at a trials system established by USA Shooting. CAT was also the only opportunity for athletes to earn quotas for the Pan American Games next summer in Lima, Peru. The USA Shooting Team earned the maximum 24 quotas to the 2019 Pan American Games. Two Olympic quotas will be available in each individual event at the Pan American Games and is the last chance for athletes to earn quotas prior to the 2020 Olympic Games. Between the ISSF World Championship in September

in Changwon, South Korea and CAT, the United States has won 12 Olympic quotas, as well as the maximum number of quotas possible (two) in Men’s and Women’s Skeet and Men’s Three-Position Rifle. Additional opportunities for the United States to win Olympic quotas will be at the ISSF World Cups throughout 2019, in addition to the Pan American Games.

Top left: Mixed Trap Team gold medalists Ashley Carroll and Grayson Davey. Middle: Women’s Air Rifle medalists. Top right: Mindy Miles and Ali Weisz duel for gold in Women’s Air Rifle. Second down: Frank Thompson wins gold in Men’s Skeet. Third: CAT Pistol Team. Bottom: Men’s Air Rifle medalists.

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

Athlete(s)

Medal

Event

Dempster Christenson (Sioux Falls, S.D.)*

Gold

Lucas Kozeniesky (Fairfax, Virginia)

Silver

Dempster Christenson (Sioux Falls, S.D.). Lucas Kozeniesky (Fairfax, Va.), Bryant Wallizer (Little Orleans, Md.)

Gold

George Norton (Salina, Kan./USAMU)*

Gold

Patrick Sunderman (Farmington, Minn./USAMU)

Silver

George Norton (Salina, Kan./USAMU), Patrick Sunderman (Farmington, Minn./USAMU), Lucas Kozeniesky (Fairfax, Va.)

Gold

Men’s Three-Position Rifle Team

Lucas Kozeniesky (Fairfax, Va.)

Bronze

Men’s Prone Rifle

Dempster Christenson (Sioux Falls, S.D.), George Norton (Salina, Kan./USAMU), Lucas Kozeniesky (Fairfax, Va.)

Gold

Men’s Prone Rifle Team

James Hall (Columbia, Mo.)*

Gold

Men’s Air Pistol

James Hall (Columbia, Mo.), Nick Mowrer (Butte, Mont.), Jack Leverett III (Bainbridge, Ga.)

Gold

Men’s Air Pistol Team

Men’s Air Rifle Men’s Air Rifle Team Men’s Three-Position Rifle

Keith Sanderson (Colorado Springs, Colo.)

Bronze

Men’s Rapid Fire Pistol

Keith Sanderson (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Alex Chichkov (Temple Terrace, Fla.), Jack Leverett III (Bainbridge, Ga.)

Gold

Men’s Rapid FIre Pistol Team

Glenn Eller (Katy, Texas/USAMU)

Bronze

Men’s Trap

Glenn Eller (Katy, Texas/USAMU), Jake Wallace (Castaic, Calif.), Grayson Davey (Anchorage, Alaska)

Silver

Men’s Trap Team

Frank Thompson (Alliance, Neb.)*

Gold

Men’s Skeet

Frank Thompson (Alliance, Neb.), Dustan Taylor (Staley, N.C./USAMU), Phillip Jungman (Caldwell, Texas/USAMU)

Gold

Men’s Skeet Team

Mindy Miles (Weatherford, Texas)*

Gold

Ali Weisz (Belgrade, Mont.)

Silver

Mindy Miles (Weatherford, Texas), Ali Weisz (Belgrade, Mont.), Sarah Beard (Danville, Ind./USAMU)

Gold

Women’s Air Rifle Team

Sarah Beard (Danville, Ind./USAMU)*

Gold

Women’s Three-Position Rifle

Sarah Beard (Danville, Ind./USAMU), Mackensie Martin (Murray, Ky.), Rachel Garner (Celina, Texas)

Gold

Women’s Three-Position Rifle Team

Women’s Air Rifle

Sarah Beard (Danville, Ind./USAMU)

Gold

Hannah Black (Richmond, Va.)

Bronze

Sarah Beard (Danville, Ind./USAMU), Hannah Black (Richmond, Va.), Mackensie Martin (Murray, Ky.)

Gold

Women’s Prone Rifle Team

Alexis Lagan (Boulder City, Nev.)

Silver

Women’s Air Pistol

Alexis Lagan (Boulder City, Nev.), Sandra Uptagrafft (Phenix City, Ala.), Sarah Choe (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Gold

Women’s Air Pistol Team

Alexis Lagan (Boulder City, Nev.)*

Gold

Sandra Uptagrafft (Phenix City, Ala.)

Bronze

Sandra Uptagrafft (Phenix City, Ala.), Alexis Lagan (Boulder City, Nev.), Katelyn Abeln (Douglasville, Ga.)

Gold

Kayle Browning (Wooster, Ark.)*

Gold

Ashley Carroll (Solvang, Calif.)

Bronze

Kayle Browning (Wooster, Ark.), Ashley Carroll (Solvang, Calif.), Aeriel Skinner (Jackson, Mont.)

Gold

Amber English (Colorado Springs, Colo./USAMU)

Gold

Kim Rhode (El Monte, Calif.)

Silver

Mindy Miles (Weatherford, Texas), Dempster Christenson (Sioux Falls, S.D.)

Gold

Sarah Beard (Danville, Ind./USAMU), Lucas Kozeniesky (Fairfax, Va.)

Bronze

Alexis Lagan (Boulder City, Nev.), Nick Mowrer (Butte, Mont.)

Gold

James Hall (Columbia, Mo.), Sandra Uptagrafft (Phenix City, Ala.)

Silver

Ashley Carroll (Solvang, Calif.), Grayson Davey (Anchorage, Alaska)

Gold

Women’s Prone Rifle

Women’s Sport Pistol Women’s Sport Pistol Team Women’s Trap Women’s Trap Team Women’s Skeet Air Rifle Mixed Team Air Pistol Mixed Team Trap Mixed Team

*Secured U.S. Olympic Quota End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

Q&A with Vincent Hancock

Loving the Shooting Sports: Hancock Talks Life After Rio, Beyond By: Nick Peterson USAS Intern

What was your thought process during your time off following Rio 2016 and how has that played into your results from this year? The plan, following a disappointing Rio Olympics, was to take some time off,

2016 Olympics. During that time, I wanted to get out there. I wanted to train and compete. With that, I was able to accomplish that goal to qualify over a year before the Games. I set myself a plan leading up to the 2016 Games and I followed

Did Rio set you back mentally or did you always feel like you were on the same track? In the past, I never had the weird feeling that I wasn’t going to win, but in Rio, I did. It is the only match that I can remember

loss, I was so happy because of the battles I had won back home. I was fighting to become a better person for my family and a better man for myself and I feel as though I accomplished that. I was actually being a husband and a father again. It helped me separate the person I am on the range from the person I am at home. We have to

Hancock won gold at every World Cup in which he competed in 2018, wrapping the year with a gold medal at the World Championship and equaling the World Record in Changwon, South Korea.

recuperate, set goals coming up to the next qualifier and the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. The initial plan was to take off only four months, but I didn’t receive my gun until seven months after I stopped shooting, which was around mid-October 2016. The biggest thing was, by the time I got my gun, I was finally ready to shoot again and that was something I had been missing throughout 2016. In 2015, I shot really well because my whole goal was to qualify for the

that plan almost exactly how I wanted it to be. It just didn’t quite come together. That said, I felt like I needed some time off. Taking off that time, resetting my goals, and revamping myself gave me that desire to shoot every day again. My goal was and is to win everything, but I have to take it one match at a time. I didn’t fear success, I didn’t fear failure, and I let God take care of the rest. That is what made 2018 such an incredible year.

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

hearing a little voice in the back of my head saying, “This one may not be for you.” Whether this was God telling me that this is the opportunity to learn from your losses and reset to do better next time or it was me psyching myself out, it prepared me for the experience and the feeling that happened in Rio. The head coach at the time, Todd Graves, came to me and said, “I know you just lost, but this is the happiest I have seen you in such a long time.” Despite my

enjoy our blessings that we have been presented. For me, it’s not just about winning at the range anymore. It’s about making sure I am winning at home with my wife, with my kids. Learning to compartmentalize myself was my biggest lesson during 2016 and my time off in 2017 which provided me great success in 2018. You talked about your family and separating your range personality versus your family personality. How has your family played into your success in 2018?

The only reason I can do what I do is because they support me so much. It’s incredible because every time I leave for a match, even though I don’t want to leave, my kids will say “Daddy we really don’t want you to go, but since you have to, you have to bring a gold medal home. You have to win. You will bring a gold medal home, so we will get to keep them.” As I have told them before, anyone can be beaten at anytime but that is not acceptable to them. They always push me to bring home a gold medal. They get to keep every domestic medal I win. In all seriousness, they say “You are going to win a gold medal.” So, I start every trip by saying “Alright, I can’t let my girls down so I’m going to go and have fun and do it for them.” As long as I am having fun, I will easily perform at a level that I expect myself to. How does that mindset carry over into your training? I don’t travel a lot outside of competitions. When I am home, I make sure I am 100% present and in the moment with my family. That said, my training revolves around my ability to take my girls to school and pick them up at school. For me, on that drive from the school to the range, I am getting myself into the mindset of the athlete me. While I train for the next few hours, I am focused on being as perfect as I possibly can. On top of my training, I coach now too. So, having that understanding of this is what feels right, this is what looks right, and this is what it is supposed to be. If

I do something that is even marginally wrong from that original plan, I recognize it a lot faster than I used to. It allows me to correct it and get back to the path I need to be on. Then, on that drive back to the school I bring myself back to the mindset of being a father and a husband. Has coaching the sport helped you learn more about yourself as an athlete? Absolutely. It is another one of the key things that helped me get to where I am at this year. I have been coaching since 2013 and I have two athletes that I work with on a regular basis. It has allowed me to see what they’re doing and correct it for them. That way it allows me to notice if I am doing something similar or something else that might be wrong. I have even made minor adjustments to my style based on the success that some of them have had with moves that I am having them make. Not everyone shoots the same; everyone and everything is different. There is not a one mold fits all solution, but there is a narrow gap that everyone can sort of fit into to be successful. I simply look for the easiest, simplest, most efficient way to break a target. That’s what I coach. With an incredible 2018 in your rearview, how will you improve for 2019? Knowing that I shot as well as I did last year, my goals still have not changed. My goals are going to be to train up until Pan Ams and then Fall Selection, which

will be the first Olympic selection match. Those are the only two that really mean anything to me this year. I have already turned down one World Cup and that is Al Ain, and that is because I already have a quota…For right now, my focus is on Spring Selection, one World Cup, making the team for the Pan American Games, and the big one is going to be Fall Selection. What are you doing day to day to prepare yourself for next year’s matches? I am taking time off again. I have yet to shoot an international Skeet target since World Championships in September. Some people call me crazy. I never used to take breaks and I thought that you always had to be training. Over the course of four years training nonstop, I wore myself out. Looking back, earlier in my career, I had breaks due to my military time. I took time off from shooting for basic training and my AIT was two months for the Army following the Fall Selection match of 2007. Bottom line: I have noticed that every time I have had a good season, I take some time off. My plan is to take the entire time off from September to January. I need to spend time with family and be myself. I will wait for that burning want to go shoot again to come back and that is when I begin preparing for next year. I can already feel that want to go shoot now but I know that this time is for relaxing with my family and taking time for myself.

So, with your goals in mind, where do you see yourself in the next couple of years? Obviously I don’t want to put the cart before the horse, but I have every expectation to win Pan Ams, Fall Selection, Spring selection, make the Olympic Team, and shoot two or three World Cups. Then the whole intent before the Olympics is to learn and practice. Other than that, the goal remains the same: Go out there, have fun, and truly enjoy what I am doing. Also, I have to constantly remind myself not to fear success and not to fear failure. Too many times I have seen extremely talented athletes simply too scared to win. With the support of my family and my girls constantly saying “you are going to win” combined with my mindset, I am going into every competition with the expectation that I am going to win. I am going there to do the best that I can and when I shoot my best, there is no one in the world who can beat me. Last remarks I have a love and a passion for the shooting sports. There have been times in my life and my career when I couldn’t say that. As of this moment, I can confidently say I love shooting sports. It is who I am. It is in my DNA. It is where I met my wife. My girls, whether they want to or not, will know how to shoot. They don’t have to compete, but I would like for them to know how to shoot and be safe around firearms. Right now, I love the sport and it is a large part of me and my family.

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

Q&A with Caitlin Connor

Finally, Caitlin Connor! By: Marco Vettoretti, ISSF Reprinted with permission from the ISSF

The 27-year-old American shooter defeated her teammates Kimberly Rhode and Amber English and won the first ISSF gold medal of her young career at the World Championship in Changwon, becoming the new Women’s Skeet World Champion and also obtaining an Olympic Quota place for Tokyo 2020. Minsk, Sydney, Acapulco, Lonato, Acapulco, Guadalajara, Tucson: seven competitions, seven silver medals. Until last July, the shooting sport career of the USA’s

When did you actually start believing you were going to win? It’s been actually kind of crazy, because I started

Connor won Gold ahead of two of her teammates – Silver medalist Kimberly Rhode and Bronze medalist Amber English – thus enabling the United States

on September 11th, that’s a pretty big deal for us. But also, I think there was a lot of pressure going into this knowing that the USA won the last three Championships. On the first round out

Caitlin Connor led an all-American Women’s Skeet podium sweep at this year’s World Championship. Though she beat the best in the world, some of the toughest competition she faces regularly in the United States.

Skeet expert Caitlin Connor seemed to be an endless collection of honorable mentions. Then, at the Changwon International Shooting Range, participating in the most important competition of the 2018 season, the United States’ 27-year-old finally climbed all the way up to the highest step of the podium. No one better than her. No medal brighter than hers.

believing I was going to win after my 30th target, at that point, in my heart I was saying to myself “I’m going to win this.” Then I missed that pair on Station 4, but I knew exactly what I did, I just had a bad mount, so I tried to stay with it, stay focused on crushing the targets and it came down to the last pair. I wasn’t nervous, I was very confident.

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

of America to sweep the podium for the first time ever in this event, and also setting a new team World Record with 355 total hits.

there, I was a little nervous about that. I think the United States’ Skeet team is pretty competitive, even our Junior women’s team - they are very good. I have to say that winning a medal overseas is nowhere near as challenging as making the team in the United States. That’s the biggest challenge.

What’s more impressive, the fourth World Championship title won by an American athlete, or the fact that you swept the podium? I think it’s awesome that we swept the podium today,

You won several titles in the U.S. before taking your first international gold here in Changwon. Do you feel like there’s a big difference? To me, yes! Definitely. Like I said, making the team

Kim Rhode and Caitlin Connor fist bump after a good station at the World Championship. back in the States is pretty challenging, and I won some Nationals and some Junior competitions, but I’ve always wanted to win gold at a World Cup or at a World Championship - to come over here and show the rest of your competitors at home that I can win abroad as well. Connor, who is originally from Louisiana, currently lives in Colorado Springs,

where she also trains with Nic Moschetti – silver medalist in Junior Men’s Skeet in Changwon – and Samantha Simonton – sixth in the Junior Women’s Skeet match. How and when did you pick up Shooting? I actually discovered the shooting sports through the 4-H program when I met Kim Rhode back in 2006 I actu-

(Left to right) Kim Rhode, Caitlin Connor and Amber English completed a historic podium sweep. ally had no idea that shooting was an Olympic sport, so I started from there, shooting Skeet. Was Kim a role model for you, growing up? Yes, she definitely was, at the time I met her she already was a three-time Olympic medalist… but now, she’s definitely a great competitor!

Do you want to dedicate this Gold medal to anyone in particular? I definitely want to dedicate it to my parents, I would not be where I am now without them. They’ve dedicated a lot of time to my shooting career, so I’m pretty thankful to them. And, my boyfriend and teammate Dale Royer, who supported me in every round.

Rising Star: Caitlin Connor By: Barb Baird Reprinted with permission from www.nrafamily.org

Below is an excerpt from the feature on Caitlin Connor on NRA Family. Read the full story at www.nrafamily.org. Have you encouraged or inspired other young women whom you know to try shooting? I hope that I encourage or inspire other young women, I would absolutely love for our sport to grow and even though we are an individual sport I believe that all women should encourage and inspire each other.

What does the future hold? I am currently on a muchneeded break from shooting competitions, I plan on doing a little hunting and a little relaxing before the season starts up for 2019. My first competition next year is our Spring Selection in February of 2019, and things don’t slow down after that. Next year I will be competing at a couple of World Cups,

National Championships and the first half of the USA Olympic Trials. My ultimate goal is making the 2020 Olympic Team, so I don’t plan on stopping until I get there. Usually, young people get tremendous support from family members. What’s your story? I honestly would not be where I am today if it weren’t for the support from all my

family. My parents support me through everything and I cannot thank them enough. I also must thank my church family back home in Louisiana, and my friends from all over the world; I am forever grateful for all their thoughts and prayers along the way. It’s comforting to know when I’m on the other side of the world I have a huge family that is praying for my safety and success.

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

Rifle Program Update

Rifle Sweeps Quotas at CAT, On Track for Successful 2019 How was the World Championship for your program? Championship of the Americas? World Championship only got us one quota when Michael McPhail won bronze in Men’s Three-Position Rifle, but it was better than 2014 where we got zero quota places. Championship of the Americas was truly remarkable - the best for Rifle sweeping ALL four quotas, ALL but one (non-Olympic) individual gold plus some silver and bronze. ALL team golds, ALL 12 athletes qualified for individual Finals plus both mixed teams, ALL MQS athletes shot MQS scores, maxed out Pan American Games quota places and picked up numerous Continental (Americas) Records. Biggest accomplishments of your program in 2018? Five quota winners (vs. one at this point last quad) means we have a good chance now to send a full U.S. team to Tokyo with only three more quota positions to go. McPhail won one at the World Championship and Sarah Beard (pictured below left), Dempster Christenson (pictured below right), Mindy Miles and George Norton each won one at Championship of the Americas. We now have sev-

eral athletes on the verge of being ready to compete at the very highest levels of the sport, rapidly gaining experience and confidence. Who were the surprise stars? Where have you seen the most growth? McPhail did a fantastic job transitioning from one of the best Prone athletes to a real contender in Men’s Three-Position Rifle in a short period of time. He’s been strong in slings and should be great in standing with two more years of work. Coach Hank Gray and I have also worked to enhance the AMU program, where we now have much more depth than in the past and strong promise for the rest of this quad. Expect them to push the athletes training at the Olympic Training Center who are also growing stronger.

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

Who or what should we look to break out in 2019? We have several exceptional Junior athletes in NCAA programs or at AMU looking to break into the Open ranks. I expect intense fights for slots at World Cups and Pan American Games as they push the older athletes hard. Missed opportunities in 2018? We had some hopes of additional quota places at World Championship but knew it would be a battle. The rest of the world continues to get stronger and deeper. Finals cuts inch up every year with eight or more good scores in every match.

By: Bob Foth Interim Rifle Coach

Biggest hurdles or challenges leading into 2019? Many athletes still face difficult decisions to put or keep other careers on hold while pursuing their Olympic goals. We still can’t fully fund all the matches, camps, programs, coaches or equipment that would help make it easier for our athletes to be successful. We shoot fewer high-quality matches than European (and probably most Asian) athletes. While these have always been challenges with no government funding, USAS seems to be making significant strides with the help of our generous supporters. We operate very lean, focused, frugal programs and some athletes are committed enough to self-fund to some matches for the honor of representing Team USA!

Pistol Program Update

Overcoming Challenges and Building Our Talent How was the World Championship for your program? Championship of the Americas? For the majority in Open, it was a first trip to the World Championship. A lot of experience was gained that will help them down the road. Juniors had a strong performance with Henry Leverett and Katelyn Abeln medaling and a Finals performance from Sarah Choe. We had a strong showing at Championship of the Americas and was proud of the team there. We swept the team gold in Olympic events, came away with two quotas, one in Men’s Air Pistol from James Hall and one in Women’s Sport Pistol from Alexis Lagan.

Biggest accomplishments of your program in 2018? There were a couple of big accomplishments this past year. Getting two quotas was huge! Also, two Junior medals at the World Championship was big. The Junior medals show that is where the most growth has come from. They are stepping up and pushing each other and that will only help the program down the road. Alexis & James can keep improving and growing from earning quotas. I also see that as a big help in confidence for them. I see the Juniors continuing to develop keep an eye on them.

Biggest hurdles or challenges leading into 2019? Pistol’s biggest challenge is lack of USOC funding, which will continue for 2019. Not being able to support

By: Jason Turner National Pistol Coach

the athletes as much as is needed is a big challenge. We will continue to build and develop the athletes with what we have.

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

Shotgun Program Update

Skeet Program is Hot, Trap Heating Up Heading to ‘19 How was the World Championship for your program? Championship of the Americas? The Shotgun Team’s World Championship performance was an amazing cap to a stellar World Cup season. The pinnacle was the legendary Women’s Skeet sweep. We’re so proud of Caitlin Connor to win the gold medal and Olympic quota against the toughest competitors in the World her very own teammates. Kim Rhode, Amber English and Vincent Hancock’s performances, medals and quotas were other shining moments. The strength of our Junior World Team bodes well for the future with standout finishes by Nic Moschetti, Sam Simonton, Austen Smith and newcomer Logan Lucas. Earning 12 medals and three quotas was satisfying. Leaving the elusive Men’s Trap quota on the table was disappointing but motivating as well. The Championship of the Americas completed an extremely busy stretch with Nationals wedged right after World Champs. I’m very pleased by strong performances with some notable break out accomplishments: Frank Thompson’s gold medal and Men’s Skeet quota, shooting 124/125 in Qualification and 59/60 in

By: Jay Waldron National Shotgun Coach

is in Men’s Trap. Winning the silver team medal by count back at World Champs shows the World that our US Men’s Trap Team can compete. We’re getting stronger every day. Who were the surprise stars? Where have you seen the most growth? Obviously, our Skeet Program is HOT and continues to be on FIRE! I see Men’s and Women’s Trap’s flame being kindled this year and expect we will torch the World Cup circuit in 2019. Finals. All of this has really highlighted the gold standard running throughout our Skeet program. Amber English’s gold medal was another great achievement. While very disappointing to not bring home a Men’s Trap quota from the World Championship or Championship of the Americas, Glenn Eller’s outstanding Qualification performances in both (123/125 and 124/125) show we are in contention. Obviously Kayle Browning has honed her Finals game throughout the year to culminate in a fantastic CAT Final, shooting 24/25 in the first stage, ultimately bringing home the gold medal and our first Women’s Trap quota for Tokyo.

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

Biggest accomplishments of your program in 2018? Twelve World Championship medals, 15 World Cup Medals and five Quotas. Stars of 2018: Vinny, Kim, Caitlin, Amber, Glenn, Kayle and Frank! Fun to watch 17-year-old Grayson Davey’s growth and development as he faced the challenges of Open Men’s Trap, closing out his season with a gold medal podium performance in Mixed Team with partner Ashley Carroll. We’re looking forward to seeing both folks, along with 2018 World Cup Medalists Will Hinton, Aeriel Skinner, Corey Cogdell-Unrein, Jake Wallace and Mick Wertz contend for more medals and quotas in the future. I really believe the most growth we’re seeing

Biggest hurdles or challenges leading into 2019? Our biggest hurdles and challenges are staying focused with our minds on the mission, not getting burned out by the long competitive season and making sure we have the assets to support the talent we have developed so they can continue to improve. What will success look like for your program in 2019? Quota out and ready for the Games! We need to just continue business as usual by staying super focused on doing our job and securing the last of the quotas and representing at World Cup Finals - winning medals and keeping a positive and winning team culture!

Paralympic Program Update

Building Maturity and Strength As We Move Toward 2019 How was the World Championship for your program? Overall World Championships was a challenge we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t meet. We did have some good performances but not to our expected levels of performance. The team was met with unique challenges this World Cup season; however, the team regrouped and won three medals and a Paralympic quota in the last World Cup. Biggest accomplishments of your program in 2018? Our biggest accomplishment was overcoming internal team challenges. The team has matured and become stronger. Taylor Farmer had an awesome World Cup in Chateauroux, France. She performed exceptionally well in her Finals and won two bronze medals. John Joss (pictured) displayed American grit in his Final to win a silver medal and quota in Chateauroux. We have experienced growth in the program with military veterans committing to Paralympic goals. The shooting program from San Antonio, driven by assistant coach Pete Carrion, has brought in several committed competitors. As we experience growth, the competitive level of the team increases. Some internal restructuring

of the team administration has contributed immensely to the positive morale of the team. Many shooters are expanding medal possibilities by adding smallbore Rifle and 25m Pistol events - doing this almost doubles the medal potential. Who were the surprise stars? Where have you seen the most growth? In 2019, we will see the newcomers to the team step up in competition. Development of the new shooters in the program is impressive. Look to see Stetson Bardfield make Finals in 2019. Stetsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s training and performances are reaching world-class levels and he is shooting scores near world records. Farmer continues to improve her performances and scores too.

the team to strengthen and rise to the performance level to win. Biggest hurdles or challenges leading into 2019? One of the biggest hurdles we face in 2019 is funding for the growing program. We now have more athletes in the program that are qualifying for more events in World Cups than in the past. The increase in competitors, performance and Paralympic Shooting events increases the number of athletes

By: Armando Ayala Assistant Paralympic Coach

qualifying to compete in international events, leaving us with larger competitive teams that need to travel and compete. What will success look like for your program in 2019? Success in the program will be winning several more Paralympic quotas in 2019. As we approach the 2019 World Cup season, our athletes are focused on the objective to win. Our team is maturing and will be prepared for success.

Missed opportunities in 2018? In 2018, we missed a great opportunity at World Championships. The Team was not mentally prepared to compete at the necessary level. There were many internal challenges and distractions that our team could not mitigate. It was a learning experience that we came away from stronger and more mature. Challenges were identified and addressed. Incorporating lessons learned into our training focus will allow

End of Year 2018 | USA Shooting News

Sports Physio

Pain and the Shooting Athlete By: Matt Zanis USA Shooting Physiotherapist

Did you know that the U.S. healthcare system spends approximately two billion dollars a year on the management of pain due to sport-related injuries? Pain creates a huge financial burden for athletes and is also the number one reason for lost practice and competition time. It dramatically influences athletic identity, mood, and anxiety levels. Pain leads to a vicious cycle of energy and time expenditure on imaging, surgeries, and especially highly addictive drugs. Put together, you have a seemingly mundane part of life turning into an alarming epidemic. It’s all in your head...kind of Pain is defined as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage” (International Association for the Study of Pain). It serves as a protective mechanism, telling you something in your body was harmed and needs to be protected. It is common and essential to the preservation of life and limb. Think about it, I sure wouldn’t want to be that guy who can’t feel his hand on a hot stove! Although the tissues of your body relay messages to the brain, pain is 100% an output from the brain. This messaging process is

called nociception. Interestingly, nociception can occur in the absence or presence of pain, and pain can occur even in the absence of measurably noxious stimuli. Your tissues deliver information about heat and cold (thermal), position, pressure, loading (mechanical), and damage or inflammation (chemical). Think about all that time laying in prone position or rotating through the spine to follow the clay. The potential for injury increases with each training session. If the brain perceives this stress as a large enough threat, that perception of stiffness and pain will appear. Your brain is telling you your tissues have surpassed their ability to cope with that stress. Interestingly, MRI studies have failed to demonstrate a clear relationship between pathology observed on MRI and the athlete’s pain. In fact, research shows that roughly 80% of us all show some form of nasty “damage” like disc herniations, degenerative disc disease, and small fractures

USA Shooting News | End of Year 2018

but are completely pain free! What this means for athletes is it may be more helpful to forgo the expensive Polaroid and concentrate on strengthening tissues in good positions at a progressive rate in order to build tolerance to loads and stresses. This will in-

crease the threshold for nociception, which allows you to lift more weight, endure more training, and tolerate more “pain” and discomfort. The needle is pushed in the right direction! Pain in life is inevitable, suffering is optional One athlete with low stress/threat levels and who understands the role of pain is likely to recover faster than an athlete who is constantly on edge and takes the role as a victim, feeling helpless and externalizing blame. The literature shows

that when athletes are educated about their pain, symptoms decrease, function improves, anxiety reduces, and they are more motivated to continue training. Smoke and mirrors We’ve all heard stories of athletes who continued to play despite an injury that should have shut them down. This suppression of pain is called central modulation. It serves as a protective and adaptive mechanism for survival. You’ve probably experienced it when suffering a wound or injury in some high stress moment, but only afterwards, once your nervous system calmed down from

the excitement, was your attention drawn to the acute pain. Many of you have been taking recoil blasts to the shoulder for years. At first, you may have bruised and experienced some level of pain. Then, after months to years of practice, your body adapted. It can now tolerate that level of loading to the shoulder without a painful response. No pain, no gain? So, should you ignore pain? If you continue to shoot even though you experience back pain, it is like ignoring the check engine light in your vehicle. Acute sensitization is a normal pro-

cess that encourages you to change something—the movement, position, or load in order to avoid injuring the tissue. If something hurts, don’t just avoid it or power through it. Learn to understand it. Listen to your body and seek assistance to help find ways to build your movement répertoire and durability to stress. Master your movement Mind over matter Pain is an interpretation by the brain. That is all. The question shouldn’t be how much pain do you have or where does it hurt, but what in your life has brought you to this point?

Pain educates us on when our movements need improvement. Pain helps us mitigate stress and provides insight into our own mental and emotional wellbeing. The most successful athletes are those who best understand pain and its relationship to movement and mindset. They possess an internal responsibility for their pain and prepare to overcome it by making wise, informed decisions to empower their performance.

Learn more at zanisphysicaltherapy.com.

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Michael McPhail won bronze in Men’s Three-Position Rifle at the ISSF World Championship in Changwon, South Korea. He also secured the U.S. an Olympic quota with his finish.

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