The USA Shooting National Championships in Pistol and Rifle concluded over the weekend, with Olympic gold medalist Ginny Thrasher and emerging Pistol star Lexi Lagan taking the top step on the podium twice.
No one else won two events, but Thrasher took an unusual double, winning the 50 m Prone title and the 50 m/3 Positions gold, but skipped the 10 m Air Rifle event in which she won the Rio gold medal. But she did defend her 2018 title in the 50 m/3 Positions event, one of four repeat champions from last year.
Lagan won both the 10 m Air Pistol and the 25 m Sport Pistol events, defending her Air Pistol crown from 2018. Lagan was a clear winner in the Air Pistol, 1,165-1,141 over Sarah Choe, but had to win a shoot-off with multi-time national champion Sandra Uptagrafft to take the Sport Pistol event. Both shot 32 in the finals and Lagan won the shoot-off, 4-3.
In her Air Pistol win, Lagan shot a national record of 580 on the first day of competition last Tuesday and followed up with a 577 on Wednesday, which also surpassed the previous mark of 574; the 60-shot round for women in Air Pistol was introduced in 2018.
The eight men’s events all had different winners; closest to a double were Michael McPhail with a win in the 50 m Prone and runner-up in the 50 m/3 Positions events, and Tim Sherry, who won the 50 m Rifle/3 Positions and was second in the 10 m Air Rifle event.
There were four winners who successfully defended their 2018 wins:
● Men/10 m Air Pistol: Nick Mowrer
● Men/50 m Rifle/Prone: Michael McPhail
● Women/10 m Air Pistol: Lexi Lagan
● Women/50 m Rifle/3 Positions: Ginny Thrasher
Summaries:
USA Shooting National Pistol/Rifle Championships
Ft. Benning, Georgia (USA) ~ 22-29 June 2019
(Full results here)
Men
10 m Air Pistol: 1. Nick Mowrer, 1,165; 2. Jay Shi, 1,146; 3. Anthony Lutz, 1,139; 4. Luke Simon, 1,138; 5. James Hall, 1,136; 6. Hunter Battig, 1,133; 7. Samuel Gens, 1,131; 8. Paul Kang, 1,125. Final: 1. Mowrer, 241.3; 2. Battig, 238.7; 3. Hall, 218.1.
25 m Center-Fire Pistol: 1. Gerry Sverdin, 1,044; 2. Konstantin Pitsoulis, 1,039; 3. Christof Kreb, 1,026; 4. Bernard Melus, 1,019; 5. Manuel Snyderman, 934.
25 m Rapid-Fire Pistol: 1. Keith Sanderson, 1,168; 2. Henry Leverett, 1,157; 3. Jack Leverett III, 1,156; 4. Brian Kim, 1,127; 5. Ryan Yi, 1,126; 6. Kang, 1,112. Final: 1. Sanderson, 26; 2. H. Leverett, 26 (Sanderson won shoot-off: 5-4); 3. Yi, 21.
25 m Standard Pistol: 1. R. Yi, 1,082; 2. Kang, 1,071; 3. Bernard Melus, Jr., 1,056; 4. Vadim Nikitin, 1,051; 5. Jason Mathis, 1,047; 6. Betterly, 1,033; 7. Pitsoulis, 1,030; 8. Melus, 1,026.
50 m Free Pistol: 1. Gens, 1,069; 2. Lutz, 1,047; 3. Sverdin, 1,022; 4. David Betterly, 1,018; 5. R. Yi, 1,018; 6. Kreb, 998; 7. Kang, 997; 8. Pitsoulis, 991.
10 m Air Rifle: 1. Lucas Kozeniesky, 1,257.5; 2. Timothy Sherry, 1,256.4; 3. Will Shaner, 1,248.5; 4. Matthew Sanchez, 1,247.9; 5. Dempster Christensen, 1,247.5; 6. Patrick Sunderman, 1,246.8; 7. Matthew Rawlings, 1,245.8; 8. Brandon Muske, 1,245.5. Final: 1. Kozeniesky, 248.9; 2. Sherry, 248.8; 3. Shaner, 225.6.
50 m Rifle/Prone: 1. Michael McPhail, 1,251.9; 2. Christensen, 1,245.2; 3. Sunderman, 1,243.2; 4. Sherry, 1,243.3; 5. Kellen McAftery, 1,240.6; 6. Chance Cover, 1,239.7; 7. Jared Eddy, 1,236.2; 8. Muske, 1,234.9.
50 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Sherry, 2,355; 2. McPhail, 2,353; 3. Sunderman, 2,351; 4. Mowrer, 2,342; 5. Eddy, 2,331; 6. McAferty, 2,329; 7. Kozeniesky, 2,327; 8. Jared Desrosiers, 2,326. Final: 1. Mowrer, 457.0; 2. McPhail, 456.0; 3. Sunderman, 445.8.
Women
10 m Air Pistol: 1. Lexi Lagan, 1,165; 2. Sarah Choe, 1,141; 3. Sandra Uptagrafft, 1141 (Choe won shoot-off: 10.2-9.9); 4. Helen Oh, 1,140; 5. Nathalia Tobar, 1,140 (Oh won shoot-off: 10.6-9.2); 6. Katelyn Abeln, 1,125; 7. Miglena Todorova, 1,125; 8. Rachel Cantrell, 1,124. Final: 1. Lagan, 239.8; 2. Oh, 236.1; 3. Choe, 215.2.
25 m Sport Pistol: 1. Lagan, 1,167; 2. Uptagrafft, 1,162; 3. Choe, 1,155; 4. Abeln, 1,154; 5. Tobar, 1,147; 6. Kellie Foster, 1,142; 7. Oh, 1,140; 8. Abbie Leverett, 1,137. Final: 1. Lagan, 32; Uptagrafft, 32 (Lagan won shoot-off, 4-3); 3. Leverett, 23.
10 m Air Rifle: 1. Ali Weisz, 1,256.1; 2. Angeline Henry, 1,255.2; 3. Mary Tucker, 1,251.1; 4. Kristen Hemphill, 1,250.2; 5. Mindy Miles, 1,249.6; 6. Sarah Beard, 1,248.9; 7. Elizabeth Marsh, 1,248.6; 8. Macey Way, 1,248.4. Final: 1. Weisz, 251.6; 2. Henry, 249.9; 3. Marsh, 226.0.
50 m Rifle/Prone: 1. Ginny Thrasher, 1,246.3; 2. Beard, 1,244.4; 3. Hannah Black, 1,238.7; 4. Weisz, 1,237.3; 5. Rachel Garner, 1,235.9; 6. Sarah Osborn, 1,235.1; 7. E. Marsh, 1,233.2; 8. Morgan Kreb, 1,225.6.
50 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Thrasher, 2,364; 2. Beard, 2,349; 3. E. Marsh, 2,336; 4. McKenzie Martin, 1,334; 5. Rachel Martin, 2,330; 6. Katie Zaun, 2,323; 7. Weisz, 2,317; 8. Garner, 2,317. Final: 1. Thrasher, 460.7; 2. Marsh, 455.4; 3. Zaun, 442.3.
