COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -(Ammoland.com)- After nearly a week of intense rifle competition, the more than 70 competitors from five countries who competed in the Robert Mitchell Rifle Championships at the Olympic Shooting Center in Colorado Springs have departed for home, along with their titles in Men’s and Women’s Air Rifle, Three-Position Rifle and Men’s Prone Rifle.
Competition at the Robert Mitchell Rifle Championships – formerly known as the Rocky Mountain Rifle Championships – concluded Sunday afternoon with titles awarded in Men’s and Women’s Air Rifle. National Team member Dempster Christenson (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) not only claimed the Men’s Air Rifle title, he also claimed gold in Men’s Prone Rifle and bronze in Men’s Three-Position Rifle.
George Norton (U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit/Salina Kansas) claimed silver in all three men’s rifle events (Air, Three-Position and Prone) this weekend, as well as shooting an exceptional second-day Qualification of 628.6.
National Pistol Team member Nick Mowrer (Butte, Montana) who won bronze in Men’s Prone Rifle at the 2014 World Cup in Fort Benning, Georgia posted the highest Qualification match in Men’s Prone Rifle at this match with an impressive 626.2 on his second day of competition. Mowrer won the overall bronze in the Men’s Prone Rifle event.
National Development Team member Tim Sherry (Highlands Ranch, Colorado) won the Men’s Three-Position Rifle competition, edging out Norton in the Final for a gold medal by 1.1 points.
Elizabeth Marsh (Searcy, Arkansas) was the youngest Open division champion of the week at age 18 when she claimed the Women’s Air Rifle title. She also won gold in Junior Women’s Three-Position Rifle.
Erin McNeil (U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit/Fort Wayne, Indiana) handily won the Women’s Three-Position Rifle title, beating silver medalist Emily Holsopple (Wilcox, Pennsylvania) in the Final by 3.7 points.
Women’s Three-Position Rifle bronze medalist Emily Stith (Colorado Springs, Colorado) earned plenty of hardware over the week, also claiming silver in Junior Women’s Three-Position Rifle, silver in Women’s Air Rifle and gold in Junior Women’s Air Rifle.
Jared Derosiers (Colorado Springs, Colorado) and Ryan Habeck (Fort Pierre, South Dakota) also claimed multiple medals in the Junior division. Derosiers won the Junior Men’s Prone and Junior Men’s Three-Position competitions. Habeck won silver in Junior Men’s Three-Position and gold in Junior Men’s Air Rifle.
This match was renamed for Robert Mitchell, who helped build USA Shooting from its infancy as a National Governing Body through his 30-year career with the organization. His time with USA Shooting included time spent as National Team Coach, Director of Operations and Chief Executive Officer.
During his retirement ceremony in August 2016, the USA Shooting staff announced that they were renaming the Rocky Mountain Rifle Championship in his honor. The match originated under Mitchell back in 1986 when he was National Rifle Coach.
(Pictured: Men’s Three-Position Rifle Final: (left to right) George Norton, Patrick Sunderman, Dempster Christenson and Tim Sherry.)
For complete results from the Robert Mitchell Rifle Championships, click here.
For photos from the event, click here.
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