First medal for USA won by military officer in World Cup

[USAMU and USAS]

USA Shooting & U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit


FORT BENNING, Ga. - It came down to a half-point difference between the Gold Medal and the Silver Medal in Men’s 50-Meter Free Rifle Prone competition May 11 at the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup USA at the Pistol at the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit’s Pool International Shooting Complex.

The U.S. Naval Reserve’s Lt. Eric Uptagrafft of Longmont, Colo., and France’s Valerian Sauveplane both equaled the current World Record with their qualifying perfect score of 600 but Sauveplane was able to squeak by with the Gold for France with a 103.3 in the final. Uptagrafft hit a 102.8 in the final to mark the first U.S. medal won at this World Cup. The shooters tied the world record also currently held by USAMU’s Sgt. 1st Class Thomas A. Tamas, a native of Columbus, Ga.

“I am a little disappointed I didn’t win,” said Uptagrafft, who was a 1996 Olympian in this event. “It was the first time I remember ever seeing two 600s shot in a match but I knew I would have to stick a good final to win. I definitely had my work cut out for me. My position felt good, just not perfect.”

Israel’s Guy Starik clinched the Bronze in the prone event. Starik hit a 104.9 in the final to move up from a four-way tie for fourth to third. Tamas finished in 32nd place with a score of 592 out of 600.

In the second event to wrap up May 11, Women’s 25-Meter Sport Pistol, China grabbed two more medals. Ying Chen won the Gold with a Final World Record of 204.4 and a total score of 791.4 and her teammate Fengji got the Bronze with a 789.1. Maria Grozdeva of Bulgaria squeezed in there with a 790.3 for the Silver.

Army Reservist Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Callahan of Upper Marlboro, Md., finished in 18th place with a score of 576 out of 600. Rebecca Snyder of Colorado Springs, Colo., was 23rd with a 574 and Navy Reservist Petty Officer 2nd Class Sandra Uptagrafft, wife of the Prone Rifle Silver Medalist, was 31st with a 566.

Russia took two medals in Men’s Air Pistol competition May 11; Vladimir Gontcharov won the Gold with a 687.0 total score and Mikhail Nestruev grabbed a Silver with a 685.2. Franck Dumoulin of France beat Francesco Bruno of Italy with a 684.3 in the shoot-off for the Bronze Medal.

The top USA finisher was Sgt. 1st Class Daryl Szarenski of the USAMU in 11th place with a 580 out of 600. USAMU’s Staff Sgt. John C. Ennis finished 27th with a 575 and Brian Beaman was 50th with a 563.

Zongliang Tan clinched a Gold Medal for China May 10 in Men’s 50-Meter Free Pistol competition. Tan finished the qualifying round with a 572, three points above Martin Tenk of the Czech Republic. Tan went on to hit a 95.8 in the finals, which would be more than enough to walk away with the win. Tenk finished in second place with a 94.8 in the finals and a 663.8 total score.

In third place, the 2004 Olympic Gold medalist in this event, Mikhail Nestruev of Russia, made a big come-from-behind move in the finals to beat Francesco Bruno of Italy with a 662.4 total score. Bruno had a two-point lead going into the finals, but Nestruev took advantage of a couple of poor shots by the Italian in the final to push him off of the medal stand. Dumoulin finished in fourth and Bruno ended up in fifth.

Ennis, the top finisher for the USA, finished in 12th place with a 561 total score. The next USA finisher was Szarenski who finished in 19th place with a 557 and Jason Turner of Colorado Springs who shot a 556 and ended up in 21st place.

When the first Gold, Silver and Bronze medals of the 2005 World Cup USA were awarded May 9 at Hook Range, three flags of China flew above the medal stand.

Li Du, Yinghui Zhao and Liuxi Wu of China took first second and third place respectively in the Women’s Air Rifle competition. Du and Wu were tied going into the final, each with a score of 398 points out of a possible 400 and Zhao shot the best qualification score with a 399. Du shot a 104, which was the highest finals score, Zhao fired a 103 and Wu a 103.8 out of a possible 109 in the final; this put Wu in third place for the Bronze Medal with a total score of 501.8 and left Du and Zhao tied for first place with a score of 502. Du won the Gold Medal after winning the shoot-off in which she shot a 10.6 and Zhao got a 10.4.

Out of the 58 competitors, USA shooters Sarah Blakeslee of Vancouver, Wash., finished in 13th place with a score of 394, Emily Caruso of Colorado Springs was 28th with a 392 and Elizabeth Tidmore of Decatur, Ga., got 40th place with a 388.

For full results from the World Cup USA, log on to www.usashooting.org or to watch the World Cup USA as it happens, log on to www.issf-tv.org.

More than 400 world-class shooters from 51 countries are competing in the ISSF World Cup USA, which kicked off May 6. The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit is hosting the World Cup USA through May 15 and the competition will be conducted by USA Shooting, the U.S. Olympic governing body for the Olympic shooting sports and those governed by the ISSF.

Every year, qualified shooters of each of the Olympic shooting disciplines participate in four World Cups. Not only can shooters win medals and set world records at the World Cups, but they can also win quota slots for their countries to compete in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.