Uptagrafft and Beyerle Dominate
Rocky Mountain Rifle Championships
By Scott Engen and Wanda Jewell
COLORADO SPRINGS- Sixty of America's best international rifle shooters
descended on the US Olympic Training Center February 14-17 to contest the
annual Rocky Mountain Rifle Championships. After two full courses of fire in
three different events, Eric Uptagrafft and Jamie Beyerle walked away with
the lion's share of the gold medals.
Uptagrafft, a 1996 US Olympian and the 2001 Navy male athlete of the year
from Longmont, Colorado, swept the gold in all three of the men's events. In
the 3x40, Uptagrafft posted 1170 and 1175 to take a seven-point margin of
victory over Mike Anti and nine points over 2001 Army male athlete of the
year Jason Parker, both fellow US Olympians from the US Army Marksmanship
Unit at Ft. Benning, Georgia.
In the men's prone rifle event, his personal forte, Uptagrafft methodically put a
pair of 597's on the scoreboard for a four-point win over this event's co-world
record holder and US Olympian Tom Tamas of USAMU. Etian Barazani of
Rossmoor, California, also put a solid 1190 on the charts for the bronze medal.
The men's air rifle match found Uptagrafft again at the top of the leader board
with an 1177, winning in a tiebreaker over USAMU's Trevor Gathman with
Tim Manges taking the bronze medal four points back. "It may seem funny,
but my air rifle matches and the first day of three position didn't feel great,
even though the scores were pretty good," observed Uptagrafft after the match.
"The second three position rifle went much better. This is a good place to be
this early in the season." When asked about his predictions for the rest of 2002,
Uptagrafft thought for a moment. "I'm going to build on where I am now," he said
with a smile. "I'm planning to shoot in a couple of world cups this spring, and I really
want to make the World Championships team and go kick some b--- in Finland."
The three women's rifle events gave Jamie Beyerle of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, a
chance to shine like the two gold medals she soon would wear. In the 3x20 event,
Beyerle posted scores of 584 and 583 to take an eight-point victory over USOTC
resident athlete Emily Caruso. Melissa Mulloy, another USOTC resident athlete,
picked up the third spot with a score of 1159.
The women's prone event found Beyerle putting a pair of 594's on the board for an
impressive dozen-point win over Reya Kempley of Reno, Nevada, while Mulloy
brought home another bronze medal with an 1173. "I thought I performed well,
but I still have lots of room for improvement!" said Beyerle after the match. "I
definitely need to work on my kneeling and on becoming more consistent. I really
want to make the US team for the World Championships."
In the women's air rifle event, it was Caruso turning up the heat with
impressive scores of 397 and 396 for a 793 to take top honors over Beyerle's
784 silver medal effort. Veteran shooter and 1988 US Olympian Deena Wigger
was again seen on the winner's podium for the bronze medal with a pair of 390's.
In the grand aggregate races, it was Uptagrafft on top with a total score of 3919,
besting Parker by nine points and a full 29 points in front of Manges. Beyerle posted
a grand aggregate score of 3139 for a 14-point margin of victory over Caruso, with
Mulloy taking the third spot with a 3111.
The Rocky Mountain Championship team matches ended up all USAMU, all the
time. The USAMU Blue Team made a clean sweep in the three men's events, while
the USAMU Women's Blue Team swept the trio of women's matches. "I am absolutely
thrilled with the results of this match!" said a very enthusiastic Wanda Jewell, USAS
National Rifle Coach. "Three of our shooters; Uptagrafft, Caruso and Manges were able
to shoot their individual performance qualifying score. I saw a solid increase in scores
this year and I am confident it's due to the shooters embracing the new performance-based
policy and looking to increase our medal count in Athens in 2004."
"We also had many first-time international-style shooters at this match, which shows
considerable promise for the future of the rifle program,'" Jewell concluded. "As always,
the match was successful because of the efforts of the volunteers, and I would like to
thank them for making the 2002 Rocky Mountain Rifle Championships a success."
USA Shooting is recognized by the US Olympic Committee and the International
Shooting Sport Federation as the national governing body for Olympic and
international shooting in the United States. International shooting includes
more than two-dozen different events for both men and women in four different
disciplines: pistol rifle, shotgun and running target. 17 of these events are
currently part of the Olympic shooting sports program. USA Shooting trains
and selects the USA Shooting Team, which represents the United States
throughout the year in numerous major international competitions worldwide
including the Olympic Games, World Championships, Pan American Games,
Championships of the Americas and at ISSF World Cups.
Contact Information Box:
To learn more about USA Shooting, visit their website at: www.usashooting.com
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