Rocky Mountain Rifle Championships

[USAMU]

USA Shooting Hosts Rocky Mountain Rifle Championships
February 14-18, 2007 In Colorado Springs

Kick-Off To 2007 World Cup Season Welcomes The World’s Best Rifle Shooters

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – America’s top rifle shooters are taking this Valentines Day to celebrate more than their relationships with others, but their love for the sport as they take on some of the worlds best at the 2007 Rocky Mountain Rifle Championships. The competition will take place February 14 through February 18 at the U.S. Olympic Shooting Complex in Colorado Springs, Colo. The event is free and open to the public.

Touting a who’s who among international riflemen and women, the quality of international shooters is amongst the highest ever for the championship. With Team USA’s finest set to take part, a total of six nations are represented rounded out by Belarus, Canada, France, Israel and Russia. The data gathered on U.S. athletes taking part in the 2007 Rocky Mountain Rifle Championships will assist in the overall selection for the upcoming World Cup season.

“This is a great exercise for our National Rifle Team athletes, who are using this competition to jump start the 2007 World Cup season,” noted U.S. Rifle Team Coach David Johnson. “These Rocky Mountain Rifle Championships are just a starting point in a critical year. With Olympic quota slots still available to the USA in rifle, 2007 will be an important test for our athletes leading up to the Beijing Olympic Games.”

Team USA has a strong rifle squad heading into this season. At the 2006 World Championships, the men’s prone team of Olympic gold medalist Matt Emmons (Fairbanks, Alaska), U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) athlete Spc. Michael McPhail (Darlington, Wis.) and Navel Reservist Eric Uptragrafft (Longmont, Colo.) shot a combined 1,786 points to take the gold in the men’s 50m team event. Both Emmons and McPhail will compete this week, but Uptragrafft will not be on site as he was deployed to the Middle East to serve his duty in the war.

Currently ranked No. 6 in the world, the USAMU’s Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Tamas (Columbus, Ga.) brought home the silver from the 2006 World Cup Finals last October in the men’s prone. His heated battle for second place left him to face Israel’s Guy Starik in the finals. Starik walked away with the bronze and is looking at a potential rematch with Tamas during this week of competition. Starik is currently the world’s No. 3 shooter in this discipline.

Ranked No. 1 in the world in the men’s 50m prone, Sergei Martynov of Belarus traveled to take part in the Rocky Mountain Rifle Championships. Other international competitors include Artem Khadjibekov and Sergei Kovalenko of Russia, who are ranked first and second in the world in the men’s 50m three-position rifle, respectively. Khadjibekov is the reining world champion and is also listed as the world’s No. 7 best rifleman in the 50m prone competition. Kovalenko lost a shoot-off with Emmons at the World Championships to take sixth. Emmons is currently ninth in the world in the men’s 50m three-position rifle and 12th in prone.

After shooting a perfect 400 in December to have her named etched in the USA Shooting record books, U.S. Olympian Emily Caruso (Fairfield, Conn.) will be facing one of her closest rivals in the sport this week. Currently ranked No. 21 in women’s air rifle, she will come face to face with No. 19 Myriam Duperron of France.

Team USA’s Jamie Beyerle (Lebanon, Pa.) ranks sixth in the women’s three-position rifle to make her the top competitor in the discipline at the 2007 Rocky Mountain Rifle Championships. Beyerle is an Olympic hopeful living in residence full-time at the U.S. Olympic Complex. She will be shooting in front of her real life valentine, Hank Gray (Belgrade, Mont.), who is competing as a member of the USAMU. Gray made the switch from running target to rifle when the discipline was dropped from the Olympic program following the 2004 Olympic Games.

Sgt. 1st Class Jason Parker (Fortson, Ga.), currently ranked No. 13 in the men’s three-position discipline, will also shoot in the four day challenge. A member of the USAMU, he was among the U.S. threesome that took the team bronze at the World Championships in the men’s 300m standard rifle.

Members of the community are encouraged to attend. The following schedule provides competition information, including details for the finals taking place on Saturday and Sunday.

The Schedule
All events are slated for both male and female competitors.

Wednesday, February 14
10:00 a.m. 10m Air Rifle

Thursday, February 15
8:00 a.m. 50m Smallbore
1:00 p.m. 50m Smallbore
6:30 p.m. 10m Air Rifle (if needed)

Friday, February 16
8:00 a.m. 50m Smallbore
1:00 p.m. 50m Smallbore

Saturday, February 17
8:00 a.m. 50m Smallbore
1:00 p.m. FINALS – 50m Smallbore

Sunday, February 18
8:00 a.m. 10m Air Rifle
10:30 a.m. FINALS – Air Rifle



Media Representatives
For more information, please contact Najasila Campbell, USA Shooting, at 719/866-4896 (office) or at 719/330-4066 (cell) during the competition. U.S. Team athletes will be available for interviews through Sunday, and will be on site the entire week. Final results will be released on February 18.