At the conclusion of the Fall Selection Match for Shotgun, held at the Delta Resort and Spa near Tillar, AR, six-time Olympic medalist Kim Rhode (El Monte, CA, pictured above) was the winner of the Women’s Skeet event during this premier competition. Not to be outdone, two-time Olympic gold medalist and reigning National Champion Vincent Hancock (Eatonton, GA) won the Men’s Skeet event.
Rhode finished Qualification only missing three targets over the four days—giving her 247 hits. Additionally, she won the Final by a five-target margin. Over the course of this season, Rhode won two golds and a silver at the three ISSF World Cups. Recently, Rhode finished in fourth place at the World Championship in Moscow, Russia.
Hancock also dropped only three targets to finish first in Qualification with 247 targets hit. He would also go on to win the Final after defeating his previous Olympic teammate Frank Thompson (Alliance, NE) in a shootoff. Thompson finished second place overall. Phillip Jungman (U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit/Caldwell, TX) finished in third.
Finishing in second place was Rhode’s World Championship teammate Caitlin Connor (Winnfield, LA). Haley Dunn (Eddyville, IA) tied Amber English (Colorado Springs, CO) in selection points after Qualification and the Final. Third place was decided in a shootoff which Dunn won four to three. Recently-crowned World Champion Dania Vizzi (Odessa, FL) finished in fifth place, and Junior World Champion Katie Jacob (Rochester, MI) finished in eighth place.
The Fall Selection Match was part one of a two-part qualification system to select the shotgun athletes for the ISSF World Championship next year in Changwon, South Korea. This selection match featured 250 Qualification targets presented over four days of competition plus one Final. The second stage of World Championship selection will be at the 2018 Spring Selection Match, taking place next March in Tucson, AZ. The performance of athletes at Fall Selection will also determine who will participate in the season-opening 2018 ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico, also in March. Olympic qualification and country quota allocations officially get underway during next year’s World Championship.
Article and photo courtesy of USA Shooting
