CHANGWON, South Korea (September 3, 2018)
The United States picked up its first two medals on the second day of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championship in Changwon, South Korea.
Both medals came in the Trap Team events – silver in Men’s Trap Team and bronze in Junior Women’s Trap Team. Team medals are based on the combined scores of the three athletes from a given country competing in a specific event.
2008 Olympic gold medalist and former Double Trap specialist Glenn Eller (Katy, Texas/U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit) was the top finisher in Men’s Trap Qualification with a score of 123/125 targets. Eller made his international debut in Trap this year on the ISSF World Cup circuit once his signature event was eliminated. Eller’s highest finish prior to today in Men’s Trap was 15th place at the World Cup in Malta.
Eller, however, was the first athlete eliminated in the Final, hitting 17/25 targets to finish in sixth place. Eller’s finish marks only the second time a Men’s Trap athlete has qualified for a World Championship Final since 2006. His USAMU teammate, Derek Haldeman, finished in fifth place at last year’s Shotgun World Championship in Moscow, Russia.
The last time the United States won a Men’s Trap team medal was in 2006 when Lance Bade, Brett Erickson and Matthew Wallace won team bronze in 2006. Erickson also won an individual bronze medal in Men’s Trap that year too.
All medaling teams - gold medalists Kuwait and bronze medalists Italy - tied with a cumulative score of 360, so medals were determined by a tie-breaking countback rule.
Finishing in 18th place in his World Championship debut was 17-year-old Grayson Davey (Anchorage, Alaska), who hit 120 targets. Jake Wallace (Castaic, California) finished in 40th place with a score of 117. Jake Wallace will compete again at this World Championship on September 7 in the Trap Mixed Team event with his teammate, two-time Olympic bronze medalist Corey Cogdell-Unrein (Eagle River, Alaska). Wallace and Cogdell-Unrein won gold at the most recent World Cup in Tucson, Arizona.
With two of the three Junior Women’s Trap team members making their international competition debut at this World Championship, a team bronze medal is a nice souvenir for team members Emma Williams (Savannah, Tennessee), National Junior Champion and National Junior Olympic Champion Carey Garrison (Crossville, Tennessee) and Madelynn Bernau (Waterford, Wisconsin).
Williams finished just two targets out of a potential Finals berth with a score of 113/125, which earned her ninth place – her highest World Championship finish to date (Williams finished in 10th place at last year’s Shotgun World Championship in Russia). Garrison, 13, finished in 10th place with a score of 112. Bernau finished in 25th place with a score of 101.
In Women’s Air Rifle, Sarah Beard (Danville, Indiana) was the top American finisher in 36th place with a score of 624.0. Mindy Miles (Weatherford, Texas) finished in 55th place with a score of 622.2 and Ali Weisz (Belgrade, Montana) finished in 66th place with a score of 620.8.
In Men’s Air Rifle, Bryant Wallizer (Little Orleans, Maryland) was the top U.S. finisher in 45th place with a score of 622.7. Dempster Christenson (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) finished in 54th place with a score of 621.9 and 2016 Olympian Lucas Kozeniesky (Fairfax, Virginia) finished in 57th place with a score of 621.4.
Complete results from the ISSF World Championship: https://www.issf-sports.org/competition ... hipid=1750.
Women’s Air Pistol, Men’s Free Pistol and Junior Air Pistol Mixed Team will be contested tomorrow at the World Championship.
The 52nd ISSF World Championship runs through September 15. More than 1,800 athletes from 91 countries have gathered in Changwon to compete in the 15 Olympic Shooting events, as well as 51 non-Olympic events across five disciplines.
Check out the complete World Champs U.S. Team preview in the latest edition of USA Shooting News: http://www.usashooting.org/news/usasnew ... index.html.
Complete schedule of the ISSF World Championship (Changwon is 13 hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone): http://www.issf-sports.org/media/calend ... ith_VC.pdf.
Be sure to follow the team online throughout the World Championship:
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