Loper, Parker Qualify for Finals, but Can’t Clinch Medals

[USA Shooting]

ATHENS – Seventeen-year-old Collyn Loper (Indian Springs, Ala.) shot her way to a fourth-place finish in women’s trap Monday during some of the strongest wind gusts yet at the Markopoulo Shotgun Ranges. Loper marks the USA’s highest finish in shooting at these Games so far.

“I can’t complain,” Loper said. “It is definitely disappointing being so close to clinching a medal, but I’m 17 and at the Olympics. Not many people can say that.”

Loper was sitting tied for third with Germany’s Susanne Kiermayer going into the finals. Kiermayer dropped four out of her first six targets and opened the door for Loper to strike. Loper capitalized on Kiermayer’s misses, hitting 13-straight, but unfortunately overlooked Korea’s Bo Na Lee. Lee snuck up on Loper and overtook the bronze medal position as Loper missed five of the next 12.

“I usually don’t look at the score,” Loper said. “But today, when I snuck a peek and saw Lee tied with me for third, I was really surprised. I knew I was going to miss that next target. I didn’t even see it coming.”

Australian Suzanne Balogh won the gold, shooting an 88 (out of 100). Maria Quintanal, of Spain, took silver with an 84. Lee held strong for the bronze, only missing two targets in the final round for a total score of 83, while Loper missed five out of the final 25, finishing with an 82.

Although the wind caused uncharacteristically low scores for the women. The men’s air event saw a new world record. The previous world record was held by the USA’s own, Jason Parker (Omaha, Neb.).

As a shooter for the Army Marksmanship Unit, Parker has trained for this day since he missed the 2000 Olympic medal stand by just 7/10 of a point. Unfortunately, today was not his day. Parker finished last in the eight-man final.

“The hardest shots were my first two, and that is where I shot the best,” Parker said of the final 10 shots. “I really thought I was in a good position. I relaxed a little bit, and started shooting 9’s. I thought they were good shots, pulled the trigger, and they came out 9’s. I can’t explain it any better than that.”

Parker had some difficulty with his trigger during the qualification rounds and went into the finals in seventh place with a 594. Finishing with a 694.5, Parker said that the loss was much harder to deal with than it was four year’s ago.

“This was much worse than 2000,” Parker said. “This time I was prepared and I expected a medal.”

Teammate Matt Emmons (Browns Mills, N.J.) finished tied in ninth with three other people at 594. Emmons says he feels comfortable with how he approached his match and is hungry for his next two. His men’s prone and three-position rifle events start Aug. 20.

As for tomorrow’s events, look for Darryl Szarenski (Saginaw, Mich.) and Jason Turner (Rochester, N.Y.) to get revenge in 50m free pistol, while Bret Erickson (Bennington, Neb.) and Glenn Eller (Houston, Texas) will try to tame the wind in men’s double trap.

For more information and full Olympic results, please log on to www.usashooting.org.