COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (June 26, 2018)
Morgan Phillips is proving her smallbore strength on the international stage, winning silver today in the Women’s Three-Position Rifle event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany.
Phillips (Salisbury, Maryland) finished Qualification with a world-class score at the Open (adult) level of 1175, the highest of all competitors and a personal best for Phillips.
“In Qualification today, I did a really good job of focusing on each individual shot and not jumping ahead of myself,” Phillips said. “I stayed present and those individual shots added up.”
Once in the Final, Phillips didn’t move to the top of the pack until the first pair of shots in the standing position. Eventual gold medalist Zeru Wang of China overtook the lead in the final five shots, finishing strong to beat Phillips for the gold by .8 point.
“I had a really controlled match today and was patient when I needed to be,” Phillips said. “Everything throughout all three positions was consistent. The last few shots of the Final I wasn’t worried about what the other athletes were doing. I just focused on what I needed to do to execute the best shot that I could and just stayed present.”
Earlier in the week, Phillips also won gold in the Women’s Prone Rifle event, setting a Junior World Record with her score of 626.8. Muriel Zueger of Switzerland won the bronze medal.
Phillips was joined in the Final by her teammate Elizabeth Marsh (Searcy, Arkansas) who finished in fifth place. Finishing two points out of a potential Finals berth was Sarah Osborn (Hampton, Virginia) with a score of 1165. Together Phillips, Marsh and Osborn earned a team silver medal.
Also qualifying for a Final today was Jack Leverett III (Bainbridge, Georgia) in the Men’s Air Pistol event. He qualified for the Final with a score of 578 and was eliminated in seventh place. Paul Kang (Los Angeles, California) finished in 31st place with a score of 567, Henry Leverett (Bainbridge, Georgia) finished in 48th place with a score of 562 and Kyler Swisher (Jonestown, Pennsylvania) finished in 76th place with a score of 553.
Sarah Choe (Los Angeles, California) missed a potential Finals berth in Women’s Sport Pistol by one point to finish in 10th place with a score of 573. Abbie Leverett (Bainbridge, Georgia) finished in 20th place with a score of 567. Katelyn Abeln (Douglasville, Georgia) finished in 28th place with a score of 563 and Kellie Foster (Rockdale, Texas) finished in 37th place with a score of 559.
Competition continues through Friday. This match is the second Junior World Cup of the season and features 761 athletes from 61 countries to compete in the 15 Olympic shooting events, as well as seven non-Olympic events, such as Men’s and Women’s Standard Pistol and Prone Rifle.
View live results from this Junior World Cup
List of athletes competing at the Junior World Cup
Junior World Cup Schedule