Highlights
of the 2002 USA Shooting National Championships
Provided by Scott Engen, USA Shooting,
and Paula J. Randall Pagán, U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit Public Affairs
Office
ATLANTA- Several hundred of America's best shooting sports
athletes gathered in this historic southern city for the 2002 USA Shooting
National Championships, contesting nearly 20 different events in the pistol,
rifle and running target disciplines. The national title event was held
at the Tom Lowe Shooting Grounds, site of the shooting events of the 1996
Olympic Games.
Matt Emmons, 21, a University of Alaska Fairbanks junior
from Browns Mills, New Jersey, claimed two national titles, including
a win in the men's prone rifle match. This championship was contested
in a swirling windstorm strong enough to peel the numbers off the wall
above the firing line. Emmons brought a qualifying round score of 1195
of a possible 1200 points into the medals final round. Reading the rapidly-changing
conditions carefully, Emmons nailed ten additional solid shots to add
another 104.7 points to his score, a near miraculous performance considering
the win conditions, to take the national championship. Emmons was challenged
briefly by US Army Marksmanship Unit shooter Tom Tamas, 37, of Columbus,
Georgia, a two-time Olympian and the co-world record holder and defending
world champion in this event, but his 1192 qualifying round score and
103.0 final was just not enough to catch the younger shooter. Placing
third in the event was Eitan Barazani, 47, of Rossmoor, California, who
had 1188 in qualifying and a 102.9 in the final.
Matt Emmons
Emmons' UAF team mate Joseph
Hein, 20, of Mason, Michigan, won the gold medal in the junior class of
the men's 3x40 event, posting a 2407.5 score to better the 2403.8 from
Kentucky Wildcat Bradley Wheeldon, 20, of Eubank, Kentucky and the bronze
medal effort of 2401.2 by Matthew Rawlings, 17, of Wharton, Texas.
In the women’s air rifle
championship, Emily Caruso, 24, a US Olympic Training Center resident
athlete fired a total of 792 in the qualifying round matches. This was
equaled by rising young star Sarah Blakeslee, 16, of Vancouver, Washington
who also entered the medals final round with a 792 score.
During the ten-shot final,
the lead shifted several times between the pair, but toward the end of
the series several deeply-centered tens by Caruso added up to a 103.1
final and helped her secure the gold medal with a match total of 895.1.
Blakeslee kept it close, finishing a close second at 894.4. Erin Skeuse,
17, of Stockton, New Jersey, won third place with an 884.5. Blakeslee's
solid performance also earned her top honors in the junior women's class,
followed by Skeuse in second, and Celeste Greene, 18, of Lufkin, Texas,
who picked up the junior bronze medal with a final total of 875.7.
Emily Caruso
2000 US Olympian Adam Saathoff, 27, an EMT firefighter from Sierra Vista,
Arizona, secured the gold medal in the men's 10m running target mixed
event at the 2002 USA Shooting National Championships, scoring 387 of
a possible 40 points. Koby Holland, 28, of Dillon, Montana, took the silver
with a 381, followed by the US Army Marksmanship Unit's Lance Dement,
33, another 2000 US Olympian from San Antonio, Texas, getting the national
bronze medal with a 378. Mike Fredrickson, 15, of Belgrade, Montana, won
the national junior title in this event with a score of 374, followed
by John Rock, 18, of Lathrop, California, who posted a 369 for the silver.
Trevor Peterson, 17, of Blackfoot, Idaho, took the third spot with a score
of 360.
Adam Saathoff
As the last echoes of the national
championships faded into the Georgia twilight on the final day of competition,
one of America's best young male shooting sports athletes was able to
dominate his rivals and claim multiple titles at the annual meet.
US Olympic Training Center
resident athlete John Bickar, 24, of Canton, Ohio, won a fourth gold medal
in as many attempts with his triumph in the men's rapid fire pistol event.
Bickar went into the medals round final solidly in the lead with a two-day
qualifying round score of 1179 of a possible 1200 points. Terry Anderson,
57, of Dallas, Texas, came to the final round at 1161, followed by Tony
Pikman, 44, of Short Hills, New Jersey, with a score of 1144.
Bickar posted a solid 98.6
final round, which when added to his qualification score gave him a nearly
20-point margin of victory over Anderson, and an advantage of more than
40 points over Pikman. Bickar's rapid fire gold medal today was added
to his collection of wins in centerfire, standard and air pistol, all
during the previous week of competition. Cody Maxwell, 19, of Woodland
Park, Colorado, won the men's junior class rapid fire pistol competition
with a score of 1133, followed by Alex Denton, 19, of Rock Hill, South
Carolina, with a score of 1018.
John Bickar
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