Colorado Springs, CO -(Ammoland.com)- Five U.S. Paralympic Shooting Team athletes recently competed at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Shooting World Cup event in Szczecin, Poland, with the highlight put forth by McKenna Dahl earning a silver medal along with a team bronze medal in Men’s Air Pistol.
Air Rifle competitor Dahl (Arlington, Washington) earned the medal in the non-Paralympic event of Falling Target. The 18-year-old also finished 10th in the SH2 Prone Mixed Air Rifle event with a score of 529.9, which was a new personal best and left her just .9 points out of the final. She was also 12th in the SH2 Mixed Standing Air Rifle competition.
The Men’s Air Pistol team of Mike Tagliapietra (Fond du Lac, Wisconsin), Shaun Tichenor (USAMU/) and Len Esparza (Cupertino, California) earned the team bronze medal in SH1 Men’s Air Pistol. Individually, Tagliapietra was 11th overall, while Tichenor finished 14th and Esparza, 21st. John Joss (USAMU/Corsicana, Texas) finished 17th in the SH1 Prone Mixed Air Rifle event. For full results of the IPC World Cup Poland, click here.
The same five athletes now move on to Hanover, Germany, where they’ll compete in the International Shooting Competition, which begins Sunday, April 26.
These events all serve as tune-ups for the important Paralympic qualification World Cups later this season including Croatia in July, Australia in September and Fort Benning, Georgia, in November. The U.S. Paralympic Shooting Team has earned two of 12 possible Paralympic quotas thus far during the 2014 IPC World Championships. Tagliapietra earned one of the country quotas in 25m Mixed Sport Pistol while Dahl did so as well in 10m Mixed Standing Air Rifle.
Individuals still have to qualify to compete at the 2016 Paralympic Games even if they earned a country quota.
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 www.USAShooting.org and on Twitter at twitter.com/USAShooting.
About ELEY
ELEY is a Proud Sponsor of the USA Shooting Rifle and Pistol Teams: ELEY Limited, manufacturer of the world’s most consistently accurate rimfire ammunition, has been the Official Sponsor and Official Supplier of .22 rimfire ammunition of the USA Shooting rifle and pistol teams since 2000.
For more information on ELEY and their products, please visit eley.co.uk.