Colorado Springs, CO -(AmmoLand.com)- Twenty-five USA Shooting Team athletes, including nine Olympians, will represent their country next month at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, as team selections were announced today in coordination with the United States Olympic Committee.
In Toronto, the U.S. contingent of sharpshooters will be focused on securing the 15 Olympic quotas still available. A quota spot is essentially the entry ticket necessary for a country to compete in Olympic competition in a particular discipline.
Athletes were determined by a selection committee in rifle and pistol that weighed recent Selection Match and World Cup results. In shotgun, athletes earned their nomination through a two-part selection match that determined participants for the Pan Am Games, an upcoming World Cup in Gabala, Azerbaijan and the 2015 Shotgun World Championships.
The Pan American Games are the world’s third-largest international multi-sport Games featuring athletes from countries in the Americas. The first Pan Am Games were held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1951, and are held every four years. The 2015 Pan Am Games will be held in Toronto July 10-26. From July 12-19, shooting competition is at the Toronto International Trap & Skeet Club, located about an hour north of Toronto.
“We feel absolutely confident in the team that has been assembled and their ability to earn the quotas that are available,” said Dave Johnson, USA Shooting’s National Rifle Coach and Director of Operations. “Being selected to a Pan American Games Team and being a part of something bigger than the sport itself is a true honor and a privilege and I know our athletes will embrace this opportunity.”
“Choosing the team was very challenging,” Johnson added. “With a mandated team size of 25 athletes to fill the 30 possible slots, we had to prioritize filling the slots where quotas were still needed. Long term, this is best for the athletes as they hopefully will have the maximum amount of quotas available for Rio, which equals opportunities to make the Olympic Team. Short term, this is a very painful process as several very good athletes that already have earned Rio quotas have to sit home for the Pan Am Games.”
The 2015 U.S. Pan American Shooting Team is listed below. The full release including more quota information, discipline-specific detail and athlete quotes can be found here at the USA Shooting website. All team members are subject to approval by the United States Olympic Committee.
PAN AM RIFLE TEAM (9)
- Men’s Prone: Michael McPhail (USAMU/Darlington, Wisconsin); George Norton (USAMU/Salina, Kansas)
- Men’s Three-Position: Ryan Anderson (Wasilla, Alaska); George Norton (USAMU/Salina, Kansas)
- Women’s Three-Position: Amanda Furrer (Spokane, Washington); Hannah Black (Richmond, Virginia)
- Men’s Air: Connor Davis (Shelbyville, Kentucky); Bryant Wallizer (Little Orleans, Maryland)
- Women’s Air: Elizabeth Marsh (Searcy, Arkansas); Sarah Osborn (Hampton, Virginia)
- Coach: Tom Tamas
PAN AM PISTOL TEAM (8)
- Men’s Air: Nick Mowrer (Butte, Montana); Jay Shi (Phoenix, Arizona)
- Women’s Air: Sandra Uptagrafft (Phenix City, Alabama); Courtney Anthony (Lexington, Nebraska)
- Men’s Free: Nick Mowrer (Butte, Montana); Jason Turner (Rochester, New York)
- Women’s Sport: Brenda Silva (Snowflake, Arizona); Sandra Uptagrafft (Phenix City, Alabama)
- Men’s Rapid Fire: Brad Balsley (USAMU/Uniontown, Pennsylvania); Emil Milev (Temple Terrace, Florida)
- Coach: Sergey Luzov
PAN AM SHOTGUN TEAM (8)
- Men’s Trap: Myles Walker (Elkhorn, Wisconsin); Jake Wallace (Castaic, California)
- Women’s Trap: Kayle Browning (Wooster, Arkansas); Kimberley Bowers (Lafayette, California)
- Men’s Double Trap: Glenn Eller (USAMU/Houston, Texas)
- Men’s Skeet: T.J. Bayer (College Station, Texas); Dustin Perry (Lovelady, Texas)
- Women’s Skeet: Kim Rhode (El Monte, California)
- Coach: Todd Graves
About USA Shooting
USA Shooting, a 501c3 non-profit corporation, was chartered by the United States Olympic Committee as the National Governing Body for the sport of shooting in April 1995. USA Shooting’s mission is to prepare American athletes to win Olympic medals, promote the shooting sports throughout the U.S. and govern the conduct of international shooting in the country.
Check us out on the web at usashooting.org and on Twitter at twitter.com/USAShooting.