Four Medals, Six Finalists for USA Shooting Team
OutdoorHub 05.30.14
Nicknamed Syd Vicious by all who know her, Sydney Carson (North Liberty, Indiana) proved why Friday at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior Cup in winning the women’s skeet gold medal. Carson highlighted a banner day for the USA Shooting Team that included four medals and six individual finalists.
Amber Culwell (Rosebud, Arkansas) also earned individual hardware Friday, picking up a bronze medal in the Women’s Trap event by defeating her teammate Samantha Smith (Spring Hill, Tennessee) in the bronze-medal match by one target.
Carson wasn’t the best shooter during the 75-shot qualifier with a score of 64/75, ranking her fourth, but that all changed in the semifinals and finals where she outshot all six finalists including two of her U.S. teammates. In her gold-medal finals matchup, she’d defeat Russia’s Victoria Ostapets by a one-target margin, 13-12.
Carson joined teammates Dania Vizzi (Odessa, Florida) and Hannah Houston (Columbia, Tennessee) in winning the Women’s Skeet Team gold medal. Vizzi and Houston tied for the high qualifying score of 68 before slipping in the semifinals. Vizzi would compete for the bronze medal against Russia’s Alina Fazylzyanova but would have to settle for fourth after losing the shoot-off after the two tied with nine targets apiece.
Culwell, Smith and Katlyn Lawson (Oakfield, Georgia) teamed to earn a Team bronze medal as well. Lawson finished 14th overall shooting a 61.
The individual shotgun medals earned by Carson and Culwell are the second and third of the match for the USA Shooting Team with double trap specialist Ian Rupert (Muncy, Pennsylvania) earning gold distinction during the match’s first event Tuesday. Overall, combining team and individual medals, the USA Shooting Team in Shotgun has earned three gold medals, a silver medal and two bronze medals.
Carson just completed her junior year at John Glenn High School in North Liberty, Indiana. She is a member of the Kosko Dust Devils youth shotgun team affiliated with the Kosko Conservation Club in Warsaw. The club is part of the Scholastic Clay Target Program sanctioned by the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation.
Culwell was a part of the World Clay Target Championships last September that earned a bronze medal. Culwell is part of the Arkansas Young Shooting Sports Program (AYSSP) which is a program organized by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission that emphasizes enjoyment of the outdoors and safe shooting to young Arkansans.
Meanwhile, in the pistol and rifle events, Tim Sherry (Highlands Ranch, Colorado) added to the U.S. success in Suhl, Germany, with a sixth-place finish in the Men’s Three-Position Rifle event. Sherry qualified third with a score of 1166. Alex Chichkov (Temple Terrace, Florida) shot well in the 25m Standard Pistol event, finishing fourth.
The inaugural Junior Cup concludes Saturday with a Mixed Team event in Air Pistol and Rifle along with the last qualification shots and finals in Men’s Skeet and Trap. The U.S. men are in position to add to the U.S. Team medal totals in skeet as Christian Elliott (Greenwood, Indiana) and Phillip Jungman (Caldwell, Texas) sit in a tie for second place through the first 75 of 125 targets. In Trap, Austin Odom (Benton, Arkansas) is three targets back.
All 25 athletes competing in the Junior Cup event will be members of the USA Shooting Team that will participate in the 2014 ISSF World Shooting Championships.
Other U.S. Team results from Friday are as follows:
Men’s 25m Sport Pistol
Brian Kim (Los Angeles), 12th (570); Alex Chichkov (Temple Terrace, Florida), 32nd (560)
Women’s 25m Sport Pistol
Irina Andrianova (Shaumberg, Illinois), 30th (555); Lydia Paterson (Kansas City), 52nd (530); Darian Shenk (Annville, Pennsylvania), 55th (509).
Men’s Standard Pistol
Alex Chichkov (Temple Terrace, Florida), 4th (557); Brian Kim (Los Angeles), 29th (531).
Women’s Prone Rifle
Lauren Phillips (Seabeck, Washington), 13th (612.5); Minden Miles (Weatherford, Texas), 23rd (610.6); Elizabeth Marsh (Searcy, Arkansas), 32nd, (607.1); Elizabeth Gratz (Sigel, Illinois), 54th (602.1).
For complete results, click here: http://bit.ly/1ws4Wha
