FORT BENNING, Ga. -(Ammoland.com)- The USA Shooting National Championships for Rifle/Pistol rolled into its second day of competition with titles awarded in Men’s Three-Position Rifle, Women’s Air Rifle, Centerfire Pistol, Standard Pistol and Junior Men’s Sport Pistol at the home of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) in Fort Benning.
Athletes completed two days of Qualification matches, with competitors in the Olympic events (Women’s Air Rifle and Men’s Three-Position Rifle) also competing in a Finals match today. Points from the two Qualification matches, plus points earned based on rank in the Finals were combined to determine athletes’ final placements at these National Championships.
2016 Olympian Lucas Kozeniesky (Fairfax, Virginia, pictured) won the overall Men’s Three-Position Rifle title. He and eventual silver medalist George Norton (USAMU/Salina, Kansas) shot the same Qualification scores yesterday and today (1166, 1174). Kozeniesky placed two positions higher in the Final to claim the overall gold medal. Two-time Olympian Michael McPhail (USAMU/Darlington, Wisconsin) won the bronze medal.
Seventeen-year-old Peter Fiori (Lebanon, New Jersey) was the only Junior to qualify for the Open Final where he finished in fourth place. He would go on to claim the Junior gold medal and a National Junior Team slot as well. West Virginia collegiate shooter Will Anti (Fort Benning, Georgia) won the Junior silver medal and Ohio State’s Jacob Buchanan (Spring, Texas) won the Junior bronze.
In Women’s Air Rifle, Ole Miss Rebel Alison Weisz (Belgrade, Montana, pictured) shared the lead after Day One with an impressive 419.8. Though her score of 416.6 in today’s Qualification wasn’t the highest among the competitors, her win in the Final secured her first National Championship title and nomination to the National Team – .1 point ahead of Sagen Maddalena (Groveland California) who claimed silver. Emily Stith (Colorado Springs, Colorado) won bronze. Stith also own the Junior title. Elizabeth Marsh (Searcy, Arkansas) won Junior silver and TCU’s Catherine Miller (Lakeland, Tennessee) won Junior bronze.
Six-time Olympian Emil Milev (Temple Terrace, Florida) won the Men’s Standard Pistol competition in dominating fashion – winning the title by an astronomical 61 points. Kevin Bennett (Belmont, Massachusetts) won silver and William Dutton (Derry, New Hampshire) won bronze.
Tony Chung (Diamond Bar, California) won the Men’s Junior Sport Pistol title with a 16-point advantage over Bridge Shooting Club teammate Ryan Yi (Diamond Bar, California), who won silver. Mason Talbert (College Station, Texas) won bronze.
Gerry Sverdlin (Quincy, Massachusetts) won Men’s Centerfire Pistol.
A World Shooting Para Sport- (WSPS, formerly IPC Shooting) sanctioned match was held in conjunction with this year’s National Championship with nine countries participating. Three American athletes earned medals and nominations to the National Paralympic Team with their performances today.
In just her first international competition, 19-year-old Taylor Farmer (Castalia, Ohio) won silver in the R2 (Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1) event. Also winning silver was Kevin Nguyen (Columbus, Georgia), who claimed his medal in the R3 (Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1) event. Shaun Tichenor (Brainerd, Minnesota) won bronze in P3 (Mixed 25m Sport Pistol SH1).
Competition in the USA Shooting National Championships for Rifle/Pistol and WSPS-sanctioned match continues through Sunday. More than 350 athletes from across the country have descended on Fort Benning to compete for National Championship titles and appointments to the National, National Junior and National Paralympic Teams.
A complete schedule for this match can be found on their website.
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About USA Shooting:
USA Shooting, a 501c3 non-profit corporation, was chartered by the United States Olympic Committee as the National Governing Body for the sport of shooting in April 1995. USA Shooting’s mission is to prepare American athletes to win Olympic medals, promote the shooting sports throughout the U.S. and govern the conduct of international shooting in the country.
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