Shotgun Shooters Shatter Targets At U.S. World Championship

USA Shooting reports that 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, beginning in early July.

USA Shooting is recognized by the US Olympic Committee (USOC) and the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) as the national governing body for the Olympic and international shooting sports in the United States.

The team selection match was held at the Tom Lowe Shooting Grounds, site of the shooting events at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Men’s double trap found Glenn Eller, 20, of Katy, Texas, leading wire-to-wire with a qualifying round score of 285 on the 300-target course, followed by a 49 of 50 in the final round. He finished ahead of US Army Marksmanship Unit’s Bill Keever, 26, of Phenix City, Ala., firing a qualifying score of 269 with a 46 in the final. Bringing up the third team slot was USOTC resident athlete Jeffery Holguin, 23, of Yorba Linda, Calif., with a 265 target qualifying round and a clean 50 in the final.

The junior men’s double trap match gave the top position to Kevin Parrott, 17, of London, Ky., with a 264 qualifying round and a 44 in the final. He bested the 260 and 42 final from Bryan Marshall, 19, of Troutdale, Ore. Third place and the last world team berth went to Adam Curtis, 17, of Las Vegas, Nev., with a total score of 301 targets in both the qualifying and finals rounds.

Women’s double trap put two-time Olympic medallist Kim Rhode, 23, of El Monte, Calif., in the top spot, staging a come-from-behind victory with a 301 combined score and a win in the shoot-off. Coming in just behind Rhode was USAMU’s Theresa Dewitt, 39, of Cincinnati, Ohio, also with a score of 301, but ending one target shy in the tie-breaking shoot-off. The final world team slot went to USAMU teammate Joetta Dement, 30, of Renton, Wash., 21 targets aft of the two leaders.

On the junior side of the women’s double trap event, Stephanie Williams, 17, of Las Vegas, Nev., put a 237 qualifying round on the scoreboard, and followed with a 37 target final. Two targets behind were Kirby Anderson, 18, of Smithfield, R. I., followed by her 2-year-older sister Kate with a combined score of 221 targets.

The men’s trap match put veteran USAMU shotgunner Bret Erickson, 41, from Bennington, Neb., in the first team chair with a combined match and final round score of 257, following a shoot-off with Brett Tagtmeyer, 22, of Emporia, Kan. 1996 Olympic silver medallist Josh Lakatos, 29, of Pasadena, Calif., trailed the top two by one target for the final world team slot.

Sheldon Benge, 17, of Comfort, Texas, led off for the junior men in the trap event with a total score of 243. Two targets back was Matthew Wallace, 19, of Covington, Tenn., followed by James Craft, 19, of San Diego, Calif., with 229 birds. All three are now headed for Finland.

The women’s side of the trap event put junior Collyn Loper, 16, of Indian Springs, Ala., in the top spot overall with a 216 target qualifying round and 23 targets in the final for a one-point margin over Dewitt. Another up-and-coming junior from Peyton, Colo., Amanda Dorman put a score of 232 targets on the scoreboard for the third world team berth.

Having two junior women make the open trap team opened the door for three more juniors to join the U.S. world team roster. Alisa Hilker, 18, of Richmond, Mo., finished third in the junior match with a total score of 204 targets, followed by Emma Simpson, 18, of Hartsfield, Ga., with a score of 196, and Lauren Kulcak, an 18-year-old Damon, Texas, shooter, rounds out the trap squad.

The men’s skeet event found 2000 Olympic bronze medallist Todd Graves, 39, a veteran USAMU shotgunner from Laurel, Miss., taking the top spot with a combined score of 264 targets. Trailing by four points was the current ISSF world men’s skeet champion and USAMU teammate Shawn Dulohery, 37, from Lee’s Summit, Mo., followed by another Show-Me state native, David Allen Treadwell, 20, of Seligman, just one target behind. All three are on their way to Finland.

The junior side of men’s skeet put Kent Vail, 16, of Covina, Ca., atop the podium with a score of 254. Brad Deauman, 18, of Crockett, Texas, took the silver medal with a score of 249, followed by Adam Knecht, 18, of Wood River, Neb., with a 248. The three young shotgunners find themselves on a plane for Lathi in July.

The women’s skeet event gave the gold medal to Linda Ferrence, 35, of Normal, Ill., with a score of 245 birds, but it took a four-bird shoot-off with Connie Schiller-Smotek, 38, of Lyons, Texas, to decide the outcome of the match. Taking the bronze medal was junior shooter Laura Kolb, 19, of Beaumont, Texas, with a score of 236. Kolb elected to shoot the world matches as a junior, opening another open slot to Finland for the ever-versatile Kim Rhode.

The junior skeet women were lead by Kolb, followed by Haley Dunn, 17, of Eddysville, Iowa, scoring a 231 and Leigh Ann Crozier, 18, of Pine Mountain, Ga., took third place just one target back. All three have been named to the world team.

2002 USA World Championship Shooting Team Roster for Shotgun

International shooting includes more than two-dozen different events for both men and women in four different disciplines; pistol, rifle, shotgun and running target. Seventeen of these events are currently part of the Olympic shooting sports program. USA Shooting trains and selects the USA Shooting Team, which represents the U.S. 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. To learn more about USA Shooting, visit their website at

www.usashooting.com.