2 Gold and 2 Silver for Team USA in Rio today

[USAS]

By USA Shooting

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - The U.S. Shooting Team earned two Gold and two Silver Medals July 19 in day five of the shooting competition of the Pan-American Games and improved its overall medal count to 18.
Two-time Olympian Sgt. 1st Class Jason A. Parker of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit of Fort Benning, Ga., added his second Gold Medal effort to contribute to the eight total Gold Medals earned by the United States.

Parker earned his second title of the competition in the Men's 50-Meter Three Position Free Rifle event. Team USA also boasted USAMU's
Spc. Michael D. McPhail who finished in the fourth place position.

"This was one of my better performances," exclaimed Parker after his victory. "I am happy to be here and to have performed well when it mattered."

Also striking Gold July 19 was Haley Dunn of Ottumwa, Iowa, who earned her first Pan-American crown in the Women's Skeet event. Teammate and two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Kim Rhode of El Monte, Calif., joined Dunn on the podium with the Silver Medal.

"This was a huge achievement for me," Dunn said of her Gold Medal performance. "It was a great honor to come to the Pan-Ams. It has been an overwhelming experience here and I have learned things for next year."

Also tallying a spot on the podium was Army Staff Sgt. Keith Sanderson who grabbed the Silver Medal in the Men's 25-Meter Rapid Fire Pistol behind Cuba's Leuris Pupo Requejo. Teammate and five-time Olympian John McNally of Heath, Texas, finished in the sixth place position.

The U.S. Shooting Team claimed a Gold and Silver Medal in the Men's Double Trap event July 18. Spc. Joshua M. Richmond of the Army Marksmanship Unit took the top spot on the podium with a point total of
185 while teammate and 2003 champion USAMU's Spc. Jeffrey G. Holguin grabbed the Silver Medal with 180 total points.

"It feels good," Richmond said of his first Pan-Am victory. "I got what I what I came down here for and this was a great warm up for next year."

Finals competition will resume July 21with the Women's 50-Meter Three Position Sport Rifle event and the Men's Skeet competition.

Results:

Women's Skeet: 1. Haley Dunn, USA, 94; 2. Kim Rhode, USA 91; 3. Melisa Gil, Argentina, 80.

Men's 50-Meter Rifle Three Position: 1. Jason Parker, USA, 1,274.6; 2.
Eliecer Perez Exposito, Cuba, 1,243.6; 3. Juan Diego Angeloni, Argentina, 1,240.

Men's 25-Meter Rapid Fire Pistol: 1. Leuris Pupo Requejo, Cuba, 784; 2.
Keith Sanderson, USA, 772.2; 3. Fernando Cardoso Junior, Brazil, 768.1; 6. John McNally, USA, 755.7 S-Off 46.7.

Men's Double Trap: 1. Josh Richmond, USA, 185; 2. Jeff Holguin, USA 180; 3. Lucas Bennazar Ortiz, Puerto Rico, 179.

The Pan-American Games are being conducted in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, July 13 to 29. The Games are an Olympic-style shooting
championship for the Western Hemisphere, which is conducted every four years. The Pan-Am Games is the last chance for shooters from the Western Hemisphere to win quota slots for their countries to compete in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. The USA has earned 24 of a possible 28 Olympic quota slots.

For complete Pan-American Games results, see http://www.rio2007.org.br/data/pages/8C ... 1550F77.ht
m.

(Formed in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to raise the standards of marksmanship throughout the U.S. Army, the Army Marksmanship Unit is assigned to the Accessions Support Brigade of the U.S. Army Accessions Command. The Marksmanship Unit trains its Soldiers to win competitions and enhances combat readiness through train-the-trainer clinics, research and development. For more information on the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, contact the Public Affairs Office at (706) 545-5436, paula.pagan@usaac.army.mil or http://www.usaac.army.mil/amu/. USA Shooting is recognized by the U.S.
Olympic Committee and the International Shooting Sport Federation as the national governing body for the Olympic and international shooting sports in the United States. For more information on USA Shooting, contact Public Relations Manager Mary Beth Vorwerk at (719) 866-4896, marybeth.vorwerk@usashooting.org or http://www.usashooting.com.)

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Photo by Tim Hipps, Army Public Affairs