ATLANTA- Hundreds of America's best shooting sports athletes recently concluded two weeks of demanding competition to select those fortunate few who will represent the United States in the 2002 ISSF World Shooting Championships in Lathi, Finland in early July. The team selection match was held at the Tom Lowe Shooting Grounds, site of the shooting events at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
Athletes for the US team were selected based on their average qualifying score for several matches, combined with their average score for all of the finals rounds for which they qualified. Because of the many different events, including junior events, on the World Championship program and the limited numbers of shooters any country may bring to the championship, USA Shooting used a selection grid that takes from one to three athletes in each trials competition. Many team members will compete in two or more events in Lahti.
In the men's 3x40 event, Matt Emmons, 21, of Browns Mills, New Jersey, led all three days of the selection matches, averaging 1175.7 points over the three qualifying rounds, including an impressive 1181score on the second day's match. His 99.7 three day finals average also got a big boost from a last day 103.2 final round score.
The men's roster for the U.S. team:
Jason Parker, 37, Cusetta, Georgia
Matt Emmons, 21, Browns Mills, New Jersey
Troy Bassham, 31, Houston, Texas
Eric Uptagrafft, 36, Longmont, Colorado
Glenn Dubis, 43, Bethel Park, Pennsylvania
Michael Anti, 37, Winterville, North Carolina
Tom Tamas, 36, Columbus, Georgia
Juniors:
Ryan Tanoue, 19, Honolulu, Hawaii
Matt Rawlings, 17, Wharton, Texas
Alex Culbertson, 18, Salem, Oregon
Joe Hein, 20, Mason, Michigan
Bradley Wheeldon, 20, Eubank, Kentucky
The women's roster for the U.S. team:
Sarah Blakeslee, 16, Vancouver, Washington (will compete as senior)
Emily Caruso, 24, Fairfield, Connecticut
Amber Darland, 22, Fairbanks, Alaska
Mary Elsass, 25, Poquoson, Virginia
Juniors:
Jamie Beyerle, 17, Lebanon, Pennsylvania
Andrea Celeste Green, 18, Lufkin, Texas
Morgan Hicks, 20, Roy, Washington
Reya Kempley, 19, Reno, Nevada
Erin Skeuse, 17, Stockton, New Jersey
American wins Silver Medal in China World Cup
SHANGHAI, China - Reigning International Shooting Sport Federation World Skeet Champion Shawn Dulohery, 36, of Lee's Summit, Missouri, emerged from a three-way shoot-off with a Silver Medal in the men's skeet event at the ISSF Shanghai World Cup in April.
A Sergeant First Class with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit of Fort Benning, Georgia, Dulohery finished the 125-target qualifying round tied with two other shooters for fourth place with a score of 120. After completing the 25-target medals final round, Dulohery found his clean score had moved him up two notches into a three-way tie with Germany's Jan-Henrik Heinrich and Antonis Nicolaides of Cyprus. In the tie-breaking shoot-off, Nicolaides dropped his fourth target to fall from medal contention, while the German was able to match Dulohery shot for shot until his eighth target sailed away unscathed. Dulohery responded by powdering his eighth clay bird to take the Silver Medal, finishing just one target behind match winner Hennie Dompeling of the Netherlands.
Up-and-coming American teammate Allen Treadwell of Seligman, Missouri, also entered the medals round finals in men's skeet with a score of 120 targets, but his 22 bird final round score was not enough to move him up in the standings or onto the medals podium.
American Jason Parker Takes the Gold in Men's Air Rifle
ATLANTA- America's Jason Parker nailed the gold medal in men's air rifle by the slimmest possible margin at the 2002 ISSF World Cup in Atlanta in May. Parker's first place finish also earned the USA a coveted start in that event at the2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Assigned to the U. S. Army Marksmanship Unit at Ft. Benning, Parker, 37, of Cusseta, Georgia, went into the medals final round tied with Peter Sidi of Hungary with a score of 597 of a possible 600 points. Parker, a US Olympian and the former world record holder in this event swapped the lead with the veteran Hungarian shooter throughout the final, until Sidi's seventh shot went well wide of the mark, scoring a weak 9.1. This opened the door to Parker's victory.
Also well within striking distance for another U.S. medal was Matt Emmons, 21, of Browns Mills, New Jersey, who began his final round only one point behind the two leaders. Several of Emmon's last ten shots strayed into the nine-ring so that Germany's Maik Eckhardt was able to sneak past him to take third. The other American in the match was USAMU's Trevor Gathman, 29, of Redmond, Oregon, who finished in a three-way tie for 21st place in the international field with a score of 589.
