Colorado Springs, CO -(AmmoLand.com)- The Shotgun women of the USA Shooting Team collected four medals and the Men’s Three-Position Rifle team picked up a silver today at the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany.
Emily Hampson (Saint Charles, Missouri, middle) and Cheyenne Waldrop (Foresthill, California, left) won gold and silver respectively today in the Women’s Trap competition. Their performances also helped the U.S. – along with teammate Samantha Smith (Spring Hill, Tennessee) – win a team gold medal in the event. Smith finished in 20th place with 58 targets.
“Having the opportunity to represent my country with a gold medal around my neck makes me so incredibly proud,” Hampson said. “Receiving gold at my first international competition greatly reinforces all of the hard work I have put into this sport and the idea that you can do anything you set your mind to.”
Waldrop qualified for the Final in first place with 70 targets. Hampson hit 64 targets for fourth place overall, but was in a six-way tie for the three remaining spots in the Final. Hampson, along with two other athletes, won their spots in the Final in a shootoff by one target.
By the conclusion of the all-American gold-medal match, Hampson and Waldrop were tied at 13 targets a piece. The gold medal would be decided in a shootoff in which Waldrop missed her first target, but Hampson hit hers and along with it, won the gold medal.
“Emily & Cheyenne have stepped on to the world stage for the first time and let the international community know that the U.S. junior shooters are raising the bar,” said USA Shooting National Junior Development Team Coach Chad Whittenburg. “Their performance here in Suhl is truly remarkable. They both showed great stamina and mental strength in their performances.”
Dania Vizzi (Odessa, Florida) also won a silver medal today in Women’s Skeet. She qualified for the Final in fifth place with 68 targets. Vizzi won the semifinal match with 13 of 16 targets to advance to the gold-medal match against Ekaterina Filimonova of Russia. Vizzi got behind early, dropping five of her first eight targets, and was unable to recover. She lost to Filimonova, 14-10.
Vizzi’s teammate Sydney Carson (North Liberty, Indiana) finished in 11th place with 63 targets.
In addition to the standard events of the Junior World Cup, the gold and silver medalists from each discipline at each of the Junior World Cups – Suhl, Finland and Italy – competed in a Super Final. Waldrop won bronze in Women’s Trap and Vizzi won gold in Women’s Skeet.
Other standout U.S. performances today included a team silver medal for the Men’s Three-Position Rifle team of Ben Estes (Ozark, Missouri), Jacob Buchanan (Spring, Texas) and William Anti (Colorado Springs, Colorado). Estes finished Qualification in first with a score of 1167, but would finished in sixth place overall. Buchanan finished in 16th with a score of 1148 and Anti finished in 19th place with a score of 1147.
The Men’s Double Trap team of Dale Royer (Jackson, Montana), Hank Garvey (Newburyport, Massachusetts) and Jesse Haynes-Lewis (Nahant, Massachusetts) claimed the other U.S. medal thus far at the Junior World Cup when they won a team silver on Saturday.
The Men’s Skeet and Trap competitions wrap this Junior World Cup with Finals in each event tomorrow afternoon. After three rounds (75 targets total) in Skeet, Phillip Jungman (Caldwell, Texas) currently sits in second place with 73 targets. Christian Elliott (Greenwood, Indiana) and Zachary McBee (Tucson, Arizona) have 72 targets each.
In Men’s Trap, after three rounds (75 targets total), Corey Hutto (Cornersville, Tennessee) is currently tied for third with 70 targets. Ryne Barfield (Poulan, Georgia) is one target back with 69 and Austin Odom (U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit/Benton, Arkansas) has 57.
For more information, please visit the ISSF website here.
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