Scherer Shines at Granada World Cup
OutdoorHub 07.08.13
Sarah Scherer is back – and in a big way.
After taking a break from international competition to graduate from Texas Christian University this spring, Scherer (Woburn, Mass., pictured right) made her way to the finals of her first ISSF World Cup following the 2012 Olympics and will leave Granada, Spain with a sixth-place finish in a hotly-contested Women’s 10m Air Rifle competition.
Scherer, who won the event at the USA Shooting National Championships for Rifle and Pistol just a month earlier qualified for the finals in 8th place with a score of 417.9. She stood strong through 11 shots in the final until a shot of 9.7 among stiff competition would eliminate her on the 12th shot.
Also shooting the Air Rifle event was National Championship bronze medalist Sarah Beard (Danville, Ind.) who finished 15th with a qualifying score of 415.5 and National Championship silver medalist Amy Sowash (Richmond, Ky.) finished 67th with a qualifying score of 407.0.
2012 Olympic gold medalist in this event Siling Yi of China would win the gold, followed by Munich World Cup gold-medalist Lisa Ungerank of Austria taking silver and World Cup USA gold-medalist Liuxi Wu of China winning the bronze.
Scherer, Beard and Emily Holsopple (Wilcox, Pa.) will also compete in the Three-Position event starting tomorrow.
The Men’s 50m Free Pistol competition also wrapped today with the highest American finish coming from four-time Olympian Daryl Szarenski (Seale, Ala.) finishing in 13th place – just two points off qualifying for the finals. Three-time Olympian and National Champion in this event Jason Turner (Rochester, N.Y.) finished in 20th place and 2008 Olympian Brian Beaman (Selby, S.D.) finished 49th.
2012 Olympic gold medalist in this event Jin Jongoh of South Korea would win the gold in this event followed by Joao Costa of Portugal for silver and Wei Pang of China for the bronze.
Medals were also awarded in the Women’s 25m Sport Pistol competition today with American shooters finishing out of medal contention. Brenda Silva (Snowflake, Ariz.) was the highest U.S. finisher in 21st place. National Champion Teresa Meyer-Chambers (Dearborn, Mich.) finished in 26th and 2012 Olympian Sandra Uptagrafft (Phenix City, Ala.) finished in 33rd place.
JingJing Zhang of China won the gold, followed by seven-time Olympian Nino Salukvadze of Georgia in second and Zorana Arunovic of Serbia in third.
Men’s Prone Rifle competition kicked off with three elimination relays contested today and qualification and finals occurring tomorrow. In each of their respective relays, four-time Olympian and Army Marksmanship Unit shooter Jason Parker (Omaha, Neb.) finished in 8th place with 620.7 points, National Champion Justin Tracy (Farmington, N.Y.) finished 12th with 617.6 points and Daniel Lowe (Olympia, Wash.) finished in 10th with 616.7 points. All three shooters will compete in the qualification round for this event Monday morning.
Also starting tomorrow will be Women’s Air Pistol and Double Trap competition.
The youngest and newest member to the National Team – 16-year-old Lydia Paterson (Kansas City, Kan.) – claimed silver in Air Pistol at the National Championships and will make her World Cup debut in Granada in the Women’s Air Pistol event. Paterson will share the firing line with veterans Meyer-Chambers and Uptagrafft.
One of the most experienced groups competing for Team USA Monday will be the Double Trap contingent led by 2008 Olympic gold medalist Glenn Eller (USAMU/Houston, Texas) along with 2008 Olympian and fourth-place finisher Jeff Holguin (USAMU/Yorba Linda, Calif.). Joining Holguin and Eller on the line will be Derek Haldeman (USAMU/Sunbury, Ohio). Eller is a four-time Olympian and seems to have the new double trap format figured out after a fifth-place finish in the Al Ain, UAE, World Cup. He set the current World Record with 146 targets before being eliminated in the semifinals.
