Shooter Rebecca Jones Narrowly Defeats Jessie Harrison For EGW Area 8 Open Win
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. –-(Ammoland.com)- Despite winning just two of 10 stages, reigning national champion Rebecca Jones of Hopewell, Va. held off defending champ Jessie Harrison of McDonough, Ga. by a slim margin of 3.4563 points to reclaim the Women’s Open title at the 2011 EGW Area 8 Handgun Championship.
Jones won back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2009 before losing the title to Harrison in 2010.
Harrison started the match out in front after winning the first stage and carrying the lead through the second, but fell behind as Jones overtook the lead on the third stage.
Harrison trailed Jones as she worked to close the gap by winning five more stages, including the final stage of the match where she narrowed Jones’ lead from over 10 points to 3.4563, but was unable to overtake her.
Jones finished the match 21st overall with 915.8089 points to retake the title. Harrison, who placed 22nd overall, finished second among the women with 912.3526 points.
Megan Francisco, the 2009 national champ from Gainesville, Va., placed third with two stage wins and a final point total of 868.8449.
“The women’s contest featured a trio of the best shooters in the country, if not the world. The match-up between Rebecca and Jessie gave the 2011 EGW Area 8 Handgun Championship its closest contest and sets the stage for what could be a very interesting USPSA Open Nationals later this month,” said Harry Foltz, the USPSA Area 8 director.
Rounding out the top five were Liz Polovina of Bethel Park, Pa. in fourth with 689.2337 and Barbara DiMattina of Woodbridge, Va. in fifth with 653.93.70.
Elsewhere in the division, J.J. Racaza of New Milford, N.J. claimed the overall Open title
with 1229.9581 points. Jim Hand of Collegeville, Pa. won the Senior Open title with 837.2739 while James Chestnut of Philadelphia, Pa. finished as the top Super Senior with 679.2781. Ben Thompson of Stewartstown, Pa., one of two juniors competing in the division, finished seventh overall with 1009.9682 points.
The U.S. Practical Shooting Association’s 2011 EGW Area 8 Handgun Championship was held September 1-4 at the Fredericksburg Rod & Gun Club and drew over 300 top shooters. In addition to crowning champions in each of the six USPSA divisions – Limited, Limited-10, Open, Production, Revolver and Single Stack – the match also hosted a shooting fundraiser as part of a larger effort to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project. To date the Area 8 region of USPSA, made up of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia, has raised over $7,300 for the charity.
To learn more about practical shooting, or join the 20,000 members of USPSA in the most dynamic and fast-paced shooting sport around, visit www.USPSA.org, follow @USPSA_Shooting on Twitter, like USPSA on Facebook (www.facebook.com/USPracticalShootingAssn) or read the Practical Shooting blog (PracticalShooting.posterous.com).