12 USAMU Soldiers make World Championship Team

[USAMU]

; 4 more in the running

USA Shooting & U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit

FORT BENNING, Ga. – The USA Shooting World Championship Selection Matches concluded April 22 at the Pool International Shooting Complex and now a total of 12 Soldiers of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit have been selected for the team, with four more in the running.

USAMU international rifle shooters Lt. Col. Robert E. Harbison, Sgts. 1st Class Jason A. Parker and Thomas A. Tamas, Sgt. Shane M. Barnhart and Spcs. Nicole M. Allaire and Michael D. McPhail made the World Championship Rifle Team and Sgts. 1st Class Joetta R. Dement, Theresa E. DeWitt and Shawn C. Dulohery, Staff Sgt. William H. Keever, Spc. Matthew T. Wallace and Pfc. Joshua M. Richmond made the World Championship Shotgun Team.

USAMU pistol shooters who are leading in the World Championship Selection process are Sgts. 1st Class Thomas A. Rose and Daryl L. Szarenski and Staff Sgts. John C. Ennis and Keith A. Sanderson. These Soldiers have a substantial lead on the next competitors going into the final stage of the World Championship Pistol Team selection, which takes place at the USA Shooting National Championships to be conducted here in June.

This Spring Selection Match, which was conducted April 11 to 22 at the Pool Complex and Phillips Range, determines the men’s and women’s rifle teams and serve as a major portion of the selection process for the men’s and women’s pistol teams going to the 2006 International Shooting Sport Federation World Shooting Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, July 22 to Aug. 5.

USA Shooting only conducts a team selection match for the rifle and pistol disciplines before its three major international competitions – the Olympic Games, the World Championships and the Pan-American Games – in order to ensure the most qualified shooters make the team. A total of 80 athletes (24 rifle, 26 pistol and 30 shotgun) will be selected by USA Shooting to represent the U.S. at the world’s largest and highly anticipated shooting championships, which are expected to draw more than 2,000 shooting athletes from around the world.

U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete Matt Emmons of Colorado Springs, Colo., won his third men’s rifle event, Three-Position Free rifle, April 22 at the Pool International Shooting Complex. Emmons shot a three-day score of 3,744.7. Parker finished with a 3,709.3 and double qualified to compete in both Men’s Three-Position and Men’s Air Rifle at the World Championships.

McPhail placed third, double qualifying in both men’s three-position and men’s prone. The 24-year-old McPhail finished with a 3,693.3 score in this match to round out the team. The performance by McPhail, Parker and Emmons allows USA Shooting a chance to bring the largest Men’s Rifle Team possible to compete in Croatia.

“I am really excited about this team,” Emmons said. “The scores we were shooting these last few days would have definitely set a team world record at any of the previous World Championships. That is something I have been chasing for the past five years. However, Zagreb can get really windy, so we will have to be ready for that.”

In Women’s Air Pistol April 21, Olympic Training Center resident athlete Beki Snyder ran away with the win. After two days of competition Snyder finished with a 959.4 grand total, beating Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Callahan, by almost 19 points. Callahan of Pawley’s Island, S.C., finished with a 940.5 two-day total for second place, while Heather Deppe of San Antonio, Texas, placed third with a 936.0 total score.

Snyder won the Women’s Sport Pistol event just days earlier and has a very comfortable lead in both events going into the final stage of the World Championship Team selection. Although Snyder won the Gold Medal at the Bavarian Airgun Championships just over two months ago, she said this air pistol competition was a struggle for her.

“I honestly feel this match was a hard one for me,” Snyder said. “I have been struggling a lot during these last couple of competitions and I’m not exactly sure why. It seems that something changed between Bavarian and China World Cup that just made everything harder. Once school lets out, I will definitely have to focus on figuring out what happened, and build up my confidence in both sport and air.”

In Men’s Air Pistol April 21, Szarenski, a two-time Olympian, worked his way up from third after the first day’s competition to first in the final day, finishing with a 1,350.8 total score and the top-spot going into USA Shooting Nationals. OTC resident athlete Jason Turner ended up in second place with a 1,349.5 two-day score, while Rose placed third with a 1,344.9 grand total.

“Between finishing first, second and third in Free Pistol and first and third in Air Pistol, the Army Marksmanship Unit Pistol Team seems to be doing better than it has in years,” Szarenski said.

In the Men’s Free Rifle Prone event April 18, 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Emmons walked away with his second win of this match, shooting a three-day total of 2,001.5, and double-qualifying in Men’s Prone and Men’s Air Rifle. McPhail finished in second, winning a spot on the U.S. National Team as well as a spot on the World Championship Team with his 1,992.7 three-day score.

In the Men’s Free Pistol competition April 18, Sanderson took first place in his second pistol event of the week, shooting a two-day score of 1,297.8. Szarenski finished in second with a 1,296.8, while Ennis rounded out the top three for the Army, finishing with a 1,291.4 total score.

Sanderson squeaked by with the win April 15 in Men’s Rapid Fire Pistol at Phillips Range. Sanderson finished just 1/10th of a point above John Bickar of Canton, Ohio. Sanderson shot a two-day total score of 1,529.7, whereas Bickar placed second with a 1,529.6. In third place, Ennis finished with a score of 1,479.4, after two rough days plagued by several gun malfunctions.

“I haven’t been able to practice as much as I would like,” Sanderson said. “But with the selection procedures the way they are – having it separated into two competitions – I will be able to practice a lot more from now until nationals and the scores will continue to improve. It is also nice for Ennis, because even though he had a lot of gun problems this time, once he gets a new gun, he will make remarkable progress.”

Emily Caruso, a resident athlete of the Olympic Training Center led the way in Women’s Air Rifle and earned a spot on the World Championship Team with a 1,386.3 three-day total score. Morgan Hicks of Murray, Ky., finished second with a 1,379.7 and OTC resident athlete Sarah Blakeslee finished in third with 1,374.1.

April 14, Emmons and Parker won their way on to the World Championship Team in Men’s Air Rifle with a first- and second-place finish, respectively. Emmons finished with a three-day grand total of 1,994.1, whereas Parker, a two-time Air Rifle Olympian, shot a 1,987.9. Junior shooter Jonathan Hall of Carrollton, Ga., finished third, winning a spot on the men’s open World Team, with a 1,974.7 total score.

In Women’s Three-Position Sport Rifle April 14, University of Alaska shooter Jamie Beyerle took the top-spot, shooting a three-day score of 1,937.2 and winning a spot on the World Championship Women’s Three-Position team and a spot on the Women’s Prone Team. USA Shooting’s 2004 Olympians in three-position, Hicks and Blakeslee rounded out the top-three, finishing with a 1,928.8 and a 1,916.8 total scores, respectively. Both Hicks and Blakeslee will double compete in Women’s Air Rifle and Women’s Three-Position Sport Rifle at the World Championships.

Allaire will represent the USA in 300-Meter Rifle World Championship events as she won the USA Shooting 300-Meter Sport Rifle National Championship and World Championship Selection Match in September. USAMU Soldiers named to the Men’s 300-Meter Rifle Team are Tamas, a two-time Olympian, who won the 2005 USA Shooting 300-Meter Prone Rifle National Championship, as well as Harbison, a 1996 Olympian, and Barnhart.