Colorado Springs, CO -(AmmoLand.com)- The first champions of the USA Shooting National Championships for Shotgun were crowned today in Men’s and Women’s Trap at the International Shooting Park near Fort Carson, Colorado.
Myles Walker and Ashley Carroll claimed top honors overall for Men and Women respectively, not only weathering 250 targets over four days Qualification, but also the heavy rain, lightning and hail that plagued today’s semifinal and medal matches.
Walker (Elkhorn, Wisconsin) was in third place by the conclusion of Qualification today. He would earn his spot on the gold-medal match by defeating Shane Herman (U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit/Peyton, Colorado) in a shootoff to advance, then later shoot a perfect score in the gold-medal match (15/15 targets) to seal the win. Collin Wietfeldt (Hemlock, Michigan) won the silver medal and Herman took bronze after he won a second shootoff against USAMU teammate Austin Odom (Benton, Arkansas) in the bronze-medal match.
Reigning National Champion Carroll (Solvang, California) successfully defended her title as she led throughout the match. By the conclusion of Qualification, eventual silver medalist Kayle Browning-Thomas (Wooster, Arkansas) had positioned herself just two targets back from Carroll, but still nine targets ahead of the next finisher. Carroll and Browning-Thomas would tie at 14/15 targets a piece in the gold-medal match, with a shootoff eventually determining Carroll as the National Champion. Emma Williams (Savannah, Tennessee) won the bronze medal.
Williams would also claim the silver medal in the Junior division. Cheyenne Waldrop (Forest Hill, California) won gold in the Junior division and Alicia Dale (Burlington, Wisconsin) won bronze.
Men’s Junior gold medalist Sevin Layer (Palm Harbor, Florida) shot not only a perfect semifinal to advance to the gold-medal match, but a perfect gold-medal match as well. Christopher Haire (Anna, Illinois) won Junior silver and Caleb Lindsey (Spring Hill, Tennessee) won bronze.
The top-three finishers overall earned appointments to the USA Shooting National Team and the top-two Junior finishers earned National Junior Team appointments.
Senior Trap champions were also crowned today with Steven Loschen (Wilcox, Nebraska) winning gold, Pete Helmick (Hewitt, Texas) winning silver and Eugenio Bortone, Sr. (Frisco, Texas) winning bronze.
Competition continues through Tuesday with Men’s Double Trap and Men’s/Women’s Skeet beginning Saturday.
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.