Colorado Springs, CO -(AmmoLand.com)- They can’t beat you if you don’t miss.
Jeff Holguin demonstrated as much Sunday in winning the national title in Double Trap at the 2016 USA Shooting National Championships from the International Shooting Park just outside Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Holguin (Yorba Linda, California) had amassed a four-point lead after 10 Qualification rounds. He’d connect on all 30 targets during the Semifinals to advance to face-off against his U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) teammate and foe Derek Haldeman (Sunbury, Ohio). Haldeman proved a worthy adversary, but Holguin was just better this match. Haldeman would miss just one target out of 30, but it wouldn’t be enough given Holguin’s continued march of perfection with another unblemished round. Haldeman earns a silver medal after winning a national title in 2015.
Serving as his pre-Olympic warmup, Glenn Eller(USAMU/Katy, Texas) showcased he’s ready to go with Rio In Sight. He had three perfect rounds, which was two more than any other competitor in the field. Two rounds of 26 and a final round 25 would essentially eliminate him from title contention. He defeated Jesse Haynes-Lewis (Nahant, Massachusetts) in the Bronze Medal Match, 29-25, after a 29 in the semifinal.
Three of the six finalists were juniors, with Haynes-Lewis earning highest rank with fourth. Hank Garvey (Newburyport, Massachusetts) finished fifth followed by Tyler Taylor (Wickenburg, Arizona) in sixth.
Over the last month, Garvey has shown he’s the top junior in the double trap field. Sunday he defended the 2016 National Junior Olympic title he earned in June by being crowned 2016 Junior National Champion. He did so by virtue of the top qualifying score of 274/300 followed by a perfect 30/30 in the semifinal. Facing Taylor in the gold-medal final, he would outpace the 2016 Junior Olympic bronze medalist, 28-26. Taylor earned National Junior Team honors by virtue of his performance. Haynes-Lewis was third followed by Jacob Hochhausler (Tampa, Florida), Dale Royer (Jackson, Montana) and Logan Mountain (Palmdale, California).
Two days remain in Men’s and Women’s Skeet before medals will be handed out. Dustan Taylor (USAMU/Staley, North Carolina) is having himself a match, having missed just one target through 125 targets. Trailing by two is Zach McBee (College Station, Texas). Four others are five back. On the women’s side, Dania Vizzi (Odessa, Florida) is two ahead with five rounds and a final remaining. Sydney Carson (North Liberty, Indiana) was the only person in the field to record a perfect round Sunday and sits in second.
Samantha Simonton (Gainesville, Georgia) and Amber English (Colorado Springs, Colorado) are five back.
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.
Check us out on the web at usashooting.org and on Twitter at twitter.com/USAShooting.