The big guns in shotgun shooting will converge in Texas from March 8 through 16. Shooters will be vying for spots on the 2008 US Olympic Team and will be selected based on the aggregate score from the Fall Selection competition, which was held last August, and this shoot. Only eight spots are available: two for Men’s Skeet, two for Men’s Trap, two for Men’s Double Trap, one for Women’s Skeet, and one for Women’s Trap. No doubt the
shooting sports will be covered and aired when most people are asleep, but it will be worth it to stay up to 4 a.m. for the 5-second highlight. Here’s who to watch for in Bejing this summer.
- Men’s Trap: Three-time Olympian and 1996 bronze medalist Lance Bade from WA is current top gun with a score of 246, while three-time Olympian Bret Erickson of NE is in second place with 244. Third place is held by Brian Burrows of CA.
- Women’s Trap: 2004 Olympian Collyn Loper of AL is in first place with 234, but Amanda Dorman of CO is a very close second with 233. Dorman however is expecting a baby in April and will not compete at the trials. That leaves Susan Sledge of CA with 231 targets and 1996 Olympian and U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) member Theresa DeWitt of OH with 230.
- Men’s Double Trap: Two-time Olympian and USAMU shooter Glenn Eller of TX is in first place with a score of 288, and his USAMU teammates Jeff Holguin of CA and Josh Richmond of PA are in second and third place respectively with scores of 286 and 278 targets. Eller shot gold at the World Cup in Korea in April of 2007 as well as the World Cup final in October. Richmond took the gold at World Cup Italy in June. Richmond and Holguin also claimed the gold and silver in Men’s Double Trap at the 2007 Pan American Games.
- Men’s Skeet: USAMU member Vincent Hancock of GA is the 2007 World Cup Italy Champion/world record holder and 2007 Pan American Games gold medalist, and naturally in first place with a score of 247. Sean McLelland of TX is in second with 243 with USAMU member Mark Weeks of MI holds third with 238.
- Women’s Skeet: Kim Rhode of CA is in first with 238. Rhodes is a three-time Olympic medalist (1996 and 2004 gold medalist, 2000 bronze medalist) in Women’s Double Trap, and made the switch to skeet following the 2004 Olympic Games after the Women’s Double Trap event was eliminated from Olympic competition. Two-time Olympian Connie Smotek of TX and 2007 World Cup Santo Domingo and Pan American Games gold medalist Haley Dunn of IA are second and third place with 236 and 234 respectively.
