Media Release from the Utah Precision Marksmanship Society
For Immediate Release to All Media - Nov 25, 2003
SALT LAKE CITY- While the Runnin' Utes celebrated their football victory over major rival BYU last weekend, another long-standing rivalry was being contested in the basement of the Naval Sciences Building on the University of Utah campus as the cadets of the US Military Academy at West Point swept away the Shootin' Utes in each of the four team and individual matches in their first home competition of the season in intercollegiate pistol.
In the men's air pistol match it was West Point's Max Pappas putting 551 of a possible 600 points on the scoreboard for the individual match win, just one point in front of Ute All-American Quinndon Sparks. West Point took the men's air pistol team match with a score of 2184 over Utah's 2125 out of a possible 2400 points.
Pappas also took the individual win in standard pistol with a 539, nine points ahead of Sparks, the top Utah finisher. The cadets took home team honors in the event with a 2073 against the Utes' 1969.
In free pistol Mat Neyland of West Point distanced himself from the field with a 506 to take the win, followed by fellow plebe Ryan Travis at 490 while Ute Leslie Nelson brought home the third spot with a 486. West Point took the team award with a 1914 against Utah's 1841.
The sport pistol match came down to a nail-biting finish as USMA's Mindi Uptegraff squeaked out a one point win at 550 over the Shootin' Ute's Ashley Davis. The cadets won the team title with a score of 1600 against the Utah's 1050, an event where the Utes were already one shooter shy of a full team.
In women's air pistol it was cadet Pat Teakle with 362 of a possible 400 to post a strong win over sister plebe Uptegraff, while Utah's Davis took third with a 356. USMA took the team win with 1068 over Utah's 1026.
The Shootin' Utes next collegiate match will be against Ohio State University in Salt Lake City on February 6th and 7th for a competition that determines which athletes and teams will get invitations to the US National Championships. The Ute's season will climax early next March at the US National Collegiate Pistol Championships scheduled for 17 -20 March at Fort Benning GA.
The Utah Precision Marksmanship Society, along with their other competition and training activities, conducts the local monthly USAS PTO pistol matches. These matches function as preliminary tryouts for athletes to secure an invitation to the annual USA Shooting National Championships in addition to welcoming local shooters of all ability levels. Their next match will be on
December 5 and 6 with the USAS International Pistol PTO and an NRA
Conventional Pistol 900 at Naval Sciences Building on the University of Utah campus.
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Photo Editor Note: High-resolution digital photos in JPEG format of Pappas, Neyland and Uptegraff are available at www.upms.org. Click on the button marked 'pressbox' at the left and follow the file download instructions.
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