Robert Mitchell Match starts Wednesday

[USA Shooting]

http://www.usashooting.org/news/2017/2/ ... -wednesday

Robert Mitchell Rifle Championship Begins Wednesday

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (February 7, 2017)
The Robert Mitchell Rifle Championship, previously known as the Rocky Mountain Rifle Championship, begins Wednesday at the USA Shooting Center in Colorado Springs and will feature competition in all five Olympic rifle disciplines including Air, Three-Position and Prone Rifle.

Robert Mitchell helped build USA Shooting from its infancy as a National Governing Body through his 30-year career with the organization including 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.

This year’s Robert Mitchell Rifle Championships will serve as the perfect prelude into a busy 2017 competition season and USA Shooting’s 2020 vision. More than 70 competitors will compete including athletes from the United States, Canada, Argentina, Colombia and Brazil.

The Championship typically features both domestic and foreign world-class talent. Italian Nicco Campriani began his march to Rio and two Olympic gold medals by competing in the 2016 match. Most of the world’s top shooting stars are absent this year as the build-up to Tokyo 2020 gets set to begin, leaving tremendous opportunity for those participating.

Among those competing is 2016 Paralympic Games bronze medalist McKenna Dahl (Arlington, Washington), who will compete in her first match since a historic bronze-medal run in Rio. 2012 Olympian and current National Pistol Team member Nick Mowrer (Butte, Montana) continues to demonstrate his marksmanship prowess as a rifle competitor, highlighted by a World Cup bronze medal he earned in 2014 in Prone. Just competing in a totally different shooting discipline set a precedent, one that Mowrer hopes to build on in the future.

The field will include other Olympians as well including 2016 Olympian and 2015 Pan American Games gold medalist Cassio Rippel of Brazil. Joining Rippel will be Emilia Rosa Fournel of Argentina, a three-time Olympian and four-time Olympian Sharon Bowes of Canada. Bowes competed in 1984, 1988, 1992 and 2000 Olympic Games making Finals in three of the four Olympic Games she competed in.

Dahl’s Paralympic teammates Jazmin Almlie-Ryan (Houston, Texas) and Tammy Delano (Rome, New York) will also participate in their first rifle match since competing in Rio. Other USA Shooting National Team athletes expected to compete include: Dempster Christenson (Sioux Falls, South Dakota); Ryan Jacobs (Gresham, Oregon) and Bryant Wallizer (Little Orleans, Maryland). National Junior Team athletes competing include: Spencer Cap (Cranbury, New Jersey); Elizabeth Marsh (Searcy, Arkansas), Will Shaner (Colorado Springs, Colorado) and Emily Stith (Colorado Springs, Colorado). National Development Team member Tim Sherry (Highlands Ranch, Colorado) will also participate.

Match Schedule http://www.usashooting.org/library/Comp ... hedule.pdf