Colorado Springs, CO -(AmmoLand.com)- The Men’s Double Trap competition at the USA Shooting National Championships for Shotgun came to a close today with gold medals awarded to two first-time National Champions: Derek Haldeman in the Open category and Dale Royer in the Junior category.
Haldeman (U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit/Sunbury, Ohio), who survived two Finals and 300 targets over the two days of competition, seems to be warming up as the season progresses. This year he has finished inside the top-10 in each of the three International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cups thus far; including a bronze medal win in Acapulco, Mexico and a fourth-place finish in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
“Yesterday I figured out a lot of stuff, I shot decent, but not as well as I would have liked,” Haldeman said. “I figured out some stuff yesterday in the Final – including that shootoff [a 40-target shoot-off with USAMU teammate Glenn Eller], and I came in pretty confident today.”
Haldeman shot 286/300 – the highest Qualification score over two days – and solidified his win with the additional points he earned from his third- and second-place finishes in each of the two Finals.
Last year’s National Champion Eller (Houston, Texas) would take home the silver medal this year and Junior champion Royer (Jackson, Montana) would win the Open bronze medal. For his finish, Royer also earned an appointment to the National Team.
“I was focusing a little more on the Open Final than the Junior Final,” Royer said. “I knew after today I had a seven target lead, so I was really gearing myself up for that Open Final. It went really well, and I just went in and focused on breaking one target at a time.”
Royer, 17, said he was recovering from a neck injury he sustained prior to the Spring Selection Match that caused him issues with mounting his gun. At this match, Royer said he figured out a mount that worked without putting too much on his neck. He plans to use what he’s learned at this match when he heads to the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany on Monday.
“I’m going to take this with me and do the same thing – focus on one target at a time,” he said.
Hank Garvey (Newburyport, Massachusetts) won the junior silver medal and Jesse Haynes-Lewis (Nahant, Massachusetts) won the bronze.
The Skeet competition started today with juniors shining in the Men’s and Women’s divisions, as well as winning each of today’s Open Finals.
Currently leading on the Men’s side is 2012 Olympian Frank Thompson (Alliance, Nebraska) with 126 points (targets in Qualification plus points earned in today’s Final). He is followed closely by Dustan Taylor (USAMU/Staley, North Carolina, and juniors Phillip Jungman (Caldwell, Texas) and Luis “Taz” Gloria (Tuscon, Arizona), who are all tied with 125.
Women’s Skeet World Champion Brandy Drozd (Bryan, Texas) leads the Women with 125 points. Amber English (Colorado Springs, Colorado) sits in second with 124 and Caitlin Connor (Winnfield, Louisiana) is in third with 123.
The USA Shooting National Championships for Shotgun continue through Thursday with the conclusion of Skeet. An additional 75 targets will be thrown tomorrow, plus 50 targets and a second Final to take place on Thursday.
View the full results thus far of the USA Shooting National Championships for Shotgun here: https://www.usashooting.org/library/Competitions/0_2015/SG_NC/2015_Shotgun_Nationals_Scores.xlsx.
View and download photos from today’s action here: https://flic.kr/s/aHskefmYoJ.
Go to www.usashooting.org to get results and more information or follow along via USA Shooting’s social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Flickr. Be sure to use the HASHTAG #USASNC15 in all posts.
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