First Half of Olympic Shotgun Selection Match

[USAS]

USA Shooting

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The first Shotgun Olympic Selection match came to a close Aug. 18 with Pvt. 2 Vincent C. Hancock of the U.S.
Army Marksmanship Unit of Fort Benning, Ga., and two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Kim Rhode taking the titles in Men's and Women's Skeet. This was the first match to select the U.S. Team to compete in the 2008
Olympics in Beijing, China.

Hancock, who is the 2007 Pan-American Games Gold Medalist and
2007 World Cup Italy Champion and World Record holder, finished the competition with a score of 271 targets. Randall "Sean" McLelland of Harlingen, Texas, took second with 268 and Staff Sgt. Mark L. Weeks of the USAMU finished in third place with 261.

Rhode took the top spot for the women today after shooting a score of 261 targets. A three-time Olympic medalist (1996 and 2004 Gold Medalist and 2000 Bronze Medalist) in Women's Double Trap, Rhode made the switch to Skeet following the 2004 Olympic Games after the Women's Double Trap event was eliminated from Olympic competition. Two-time Olympian Connie Smotek and 2007 Pan-American Games Gold Medalist Haley Dunn finished right behind Rhode in second and third places with 260 and
259 respectively.

Two-time Olympian and U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit shooter Pfc.
Walton Glenn Eller III claimed the Double Trap title Aug. 17 after finishing in first place with a final score of 336 targets.

Eller's USAMU teammates Spc. Jeffrey G. Holguin and Spc. Joshua M. Richmond finished the competition in second and third place respectively. Holguin finished with a score of 334, jut two targets
back from Eller, while Richmond ended the competition with 325. Staff
Sgt. William H. Keever, who is also a member of the USAMU, finished in the fourth spot with 319.

Eller, Richmond and Holguin have dominated the podium in Double Trap competition on both the national and international levels in 2007.
Eller claimed the gold medal at the World Cup in Korea in April and Richmond took the gold at World Cup Italy in June. Richmond and Holguin also claimed the gold and silver in Men's Double Trap at the 2007 Pan-American Games in July.

In the Trap Finals Aug. 14, three-time Olympian Lance Bade of Vancouver, Wash., took the title for the men, while 2004 Olympian Collyn Loper of Indian Springs, Ala., took first place for the women.

Bade finished the event with a total score of 271, while three-time Olympian retired Army Sgt. 1st Class Bret E. Erickson of Bennington, Neb., took second place with a score of 268. Brian Burrows of Fallbrook, Calif., finished in third place with 266.

Loper finished the women's trap event with 254 targets to take
the title. Susan Sledge of El Cajon, Calif., and Amanda Dorman of
Colorado Springs were tied at 252 after the conclusion of the finals, but after a one shot shoot off, Sledge captured the number two spot, while Dorman finished in third.

This first Shotgun Olympic Selection Match was held Aug. 11 to
18 at the International Shooting Park at Fort Carson. The course of fire at each selection match consisted of 250 targets in the trap and skeet events and 300 targets in the double trap event at each selection competition.

The 2008 USA Shooting Shotgun Olympic team will be nominated to the U.S. Olympic Committee based on the aggregate score from both this competition as well as the 2nd Shotgun Olympic Selection Match, which will be conducted at the Hill Country Shooting Sports Center in Kerrville, Texas, March 8 to 16. The top six finishers will compete in the final at the selection math in March to determine the 2008 Olympic team. The USOC will have final approval of the team.
The Olympic trials for the U.S. Rifle and Pistol Teams will be conducted March 1 to 3 in Kerrville and May 11 to 22 at Fort Benning.

The USAMU has 10 military athletes who are former Olympians - two of them are Olympic medalists. Three-time Olympian Maj. Michael E.
Anti is a Silver Medalist and Sgt. 1st Class James Todd Graves, a four-time Olympian, is a Bronze Medalist. More than 30 Soldiers of the Army Marksmanship Unit are hoping to win a slot on the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team.