Shooters halfway to World Championships

[USAMU]

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The 2004 Fall Selection Match ended Oct. 16, and the U.S. Shotgun Team is now on a well-deserved break. This year's Fall Selection Match, conducted Oct. 6 to 16, doubled as the first half of both the 2005 Clay Target World Championship Team selection and the Championship of the Americas Team selection. The second half of these selection matches will be held March 16 to 26, at Hook Range at Fort Benning, Ga.
The trap competition officially concluded this event, as well as the U.S. Shotgun Team's 2004 season, and as usual, Lance Bade of Vancouver, Wash., remained on top of his game for this last match of the year. Bade hit 50 straight targets Oct. 16 morning to grab the top position as he went into the finals. As a dominating force in men's trap for the past 10 years, it came as no surprise, but to come off the Olympic training schedule and remain so focused, the 2004 Olympian's endurance seems unmatched. Bade hit a 263, out of 275, for the Gold Medal. "It was hard to get motivated for this match, but I consider this my home range," Bade said. "And I take a lot of pride in defending my range." In second place, Seth Inman of Lexington, Mo., proved he is back and ready to compete at next year's World Championships, finishing with a 262 total score. Air Force Maj. Dominic P. Grazioli of San Antonio, Texas, secured the last National Team spot available in men's trap by scoring a 160 and beating the Spc. Matthew T. Wallace of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit with a 3 in the shoot-off. Newcomer to the National Development Team, John Mullins of Bremerton, Wash., won the Junior Men's Trap match. Mullins had made the National Development Team earlier in the year in Men's Double Trap, but from the looks of it shoots both bunker sports extremely well. Carson Alacano of Redmond, Ore., and Daniel Waite of Xenia, Ohio, took their respective places in second and third. Waite, 16, a newcomer to the international trap discipline, shot a perfect 25 in the finals and won a shoot-off against Max Jolliff for a great position heading into the Spring Selection. In women's trap, Staff Sgt. Joetta R. Dement of the Army Marksmanship Unit found her spot on the top of the medal stand. Dement finished with a 254, 8 points above her next competitor. Emma Simpson of Hartsfield, Ga., made her presence known, placing second and marking her highest finish in the open division ever. Simpson also captured first place in the Junior Division and won herself a spot on the Women's National Team, as well. In the men's skeet competition, an event that has been dominated for years by veteran Army and Air Force shooters, 15-year-old Vincent Hancock shook things up and put forth a great showing of natural talent as he won the open division. Hancock of Eatonville, Ga., becomes the youngest USA Shooting Men's Skeet Champion in the history of this event.
"I have to give credit to my dad," Hancock said. "Ever since he took over the local shooting club, I have been able to shoot every day and my game has really benefited." In fact, in the last few months, Hancock has emerged as the man to beat in international skeet. Most recently, he won the Georgia State International Skeet shoot, tying the National Record previously held by four-time Olympian Sgt. 1st Class Todd Graves of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit. Graves won the Bronze Medal in Men's Skeet at the 2000 Olympics. But, in what was the first event of the Fall Selection Match, Graves, 41, found himself a runner-up to the young Hancock by the margin of two targets. Graves hit a 268 out of 275 whereas Hancock hit a 270. Spc. Mark L. Weeks, also of the Army Marksmanship Unit, found himself in third place with a 266, while 2004 Olympian Sgt. 1st Class Shawn Dulohery of USAMU, finished fourth with a score of 265. Needless to say, Hancock had no trouble running away with the Junior Men's Skeet competition. He finished the match by shooting 25 straight in the finals, gaining an 8-point lead on Olympic Training Center resident athlete Kent Vail and new National Development Team member Mark Muzyka. On the women's side, two-time Olympian Connie Smotek of Bryan, Texas, walked away the Champion with a 257. Haley Dunn of Eddyville, Iowa, clinched second with a 254, while 2004 National Champion Brandie Neal finished in third with a 251. "It is a good thing to know such a strong group of competitors can come out on any day and give you a run for your money," Smotek said. "I am very proud of Neal and Dunn. They keep pushing me and pushing each other. That kind of competition is good, not only for our scores, but for the sport." Smotek first competed in the Olympics in 1992, the same year Dunn picked up her first gun. Smotek and Dunn have since become close friends and very close competitors. Neal, the two-time USA Shooting National Champion in Women's Skeet, just started shooting six years ago, when her father recruited her to the Indiana University Shotgun Team. She now lives at the Olympic Training Center. Men's Double Trap was the second event contested at the 2004 Selection Match. Although there was no surprise finish in Men's Double Trap like there was for Men's Skeet, the results were much lower than one would expect from the nation's top Double Trap shooters. Two-time Olympian and reigning World Champion Glenn Eller of Houston, Texas, clinched the top score and the Gold Medal in Men's Double Trap with a 318 out of 350. Eller clinched the Silver Medal in this event just a few weeks ago at the 2004 World Cup Final. In fact, Eller, 22, has been training and competing for 10 months straight, and this win at the Fall Selection Match lifts a tremendous weight off his shoulders. "I am done for the year," Eller said after the final. "I know I have to redeem myself for such a low finish at the Olympic Games, but for now, I need a break. I need to put the gun down and not worry about shooting for a while." Three-time Olympian Sgt. 1st Class Bret Erickson of the Army Marksmanship Unit knows how Eller feels. Erickson took the Silver Medal Men's Double Trap, with a score of 316. Erickson shot both Trap and Double Trap at the Olympic Games and also at this Fall Selection Match. "With the Selection Match so late in the year, this makes for a very long season," Erickson, 44, said. "It's also hard to get motivated for a match when you are coming down from your peak at the Olympic Games. It definitely wasn't like I won the second spot; I just held on to it." Jeff Holguin, of Yorba Linda, Calif., was able to hold onto the Bronze Medal, shooting a 313. Joshua Richmond of Hillsgrove, Pa., took the fourth-place position away from 2000 Olympian Staff Sgt. William H. Keever of USAMU after they finished in a tie at 312. Richmond also took the Junior Men's Double Trap title finishing 15 points ahead of Matthew Drexler. Corey Sidorek finished in third in the Junior Division, with a 295. (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 Fort Knox, Ky., which is under U.S. Army Accessions Command, of Fort Monroe, Va. Accessions Command is charged with overseeing recruiting and training of the Army's enlisted Soldiers and officers. The Marksmanship Unit trains its Soldiers to win competitions and enhances combat readiness through train-the-trainer clinics, research and development. The world-class Soldier-athletes of the USAMU also promote the Army and assist recruiters in attracting young Americans to enlist in the Army. For more information on the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, contact the Public Affairs Office at (706) 545-5436, paula.pagan@usarec.army.mil or http://www.usarec.army.mil/hq/amu/. For more information on USA Shooting, call (719) 866-4896, sara.greenlee@usashooting.org or http://www.usashooting.com.)