Olympians Emmons & McPhail Ready for Prone Opportunity
OutdoorHub 09.11.14
Olympic firepower was on display for the USA Shooting Team at the 50-meter range today with three-time Olympic medalist Matt Emmons and 2012 Olympian Michael McPhail getting started in their elimination match in Prone Rifle.
Both advanced easily with McPhail (USAMU/Darlington, Wisconsin) hoping for a similar result tomorrow as he had Wednesday. His score of 625.6 was the third best score registered out of the 138 shooters who competed. Tomorrow he only has 59 to defeat during qualification to earn a spot in the event final where an Olympic quota spot awaits the top-five finishers.
Despite advancing to the qualification match, Emmons (Browns Mills, New Jersey) suffered through an up-and-down course of fire while struggling to find the consistency necessary to truly excel in the prone event. It might have something to do with the fact that he’s competing with someone else’s rifle (McPhail’s 3-position gun) thanks to the folks at the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport keeping his rifles for a few extra days. He’ll look for better results tomorrow in quest of his fourth World Championships medal in the event.
Air Force Academy cadet David Higgins (San Clemente, California) was unable to advance after posting a 617.5. In the team competition, the U.S. finished in 10th-place.
Hope of a U.S. Men’s Trap finalist crashed on the 16th target of the fifth and final round today when Ryan Hadden (USAMU/Pendleton, Oregon) missed on a right to left target that he said was a whole six inches off his hold point. His score of 122 overall would leave him one short of entering a shoot-off with seven other competitors in a battle for the last two finalist spots. After a disappointing 22 during his third round Tuesday, Jake Wallace (Castaic, California) came back strong with a 50-straight the remainder of his competition for a 121. Seth Inman (USAMU/Independence, Missouri) dropped two targets during his final round and finished with a 120 overall. Those three combined scores put the U.S. Team in sixth place in the team competition.
The Junior Men’s Trap Team struggled with fifth-round pressure Wednesday afternoon with Garrett Beissner (Hondo, Texas) posting the high score of 22 as well as the high match for the U.S. contingent with a 115. Ryne Barfield (Poulan, Georgia) finished with a 111 followed by Austin Odom (USAMU/Benton, Arkansas) at 110.
With the three-day competition now complete in Men’s Trap, it’s now time for Women’s Trap featuring U.S. Team members Ashley Carroll (Solvang, California), Janessa Beaman (Colorado Springs, Colorado) and Victoria Burch (Kerrville, Texas) in the open division. Juniors competing include Amber Culwell (Rose Bud, Arkansas), Samantha Smith (Spring Hill, Tennessee) and Katlyn Lawson (Oakfield, Georgia). The women have pre-event training (PET) Thursday with a one-day match set for Friday.
In Women’s 25-meter Sport Pistol, Enkelejda Shehaj (Naples, Florida) was the top U.S. finisher in 20th position, moving up 15 spots with a good Rapid Fire match. Sandra Uptagrafft (Phenix City, Alabama) finished 30th with a score of 576 and Teresa Chambers (Dearborn, Michigan) was 55th.
In Junior Sport Pistol competition, Irnia Andrianova (Schaumberg, Illinios) was 40th with a score of 552, Kellie Foster (Rockdale, Texas) and Taylor Gallegos (Prosper, Texas) finished 44th and 45th.
Women’s Three-Position Rifle will be showcased on Thursday and Friday with the elimination match set for Thursday. Amanda Furrer (Spokane, Washington), the 2012 Olympian and 15th-place finisher in London, makes her World Champs appearance. She’ll be joined by Amy Sowash (Richmond, Kentucky) as well as Emily Holsopple (Wilcox, Pennsylvania).
The ‘Legion of Brown’ will be on display Thursday in the 10-meter ranges for the Men’s and Junior Men’s Air Pistol event featuring the brother tandem of Will and Wyatt Brown (Twin Falls, Idaho). Older brother Will competes in the open event first and will look to find the magic he had last May when he won the World Cup event in Ft. Benning, Georgia. Wyatt, meanwhile, will compete in the junior event later in the day.
Joining Will in the open division will be 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Jason Turner (Rochester, New York) and James Henderson (USAMU/Midland, Georgia). Joining Will as junior competitors are Alex Chichkov (Temple Terrace, Florida) and Daniel Cheon (Ceritos, California).
For live results and event schedule of the 2014 ISSF World Championships, click here.
Contact:
Kevin Neuendorf
719-866-4605
kevin.neuendorf@usashooting.org
USA Shooting
