CHANGWON, South Korea (September 6, 2018)
Logan Lucas won the first individual medal for the United States today at the Intenrational Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championship when he won silver in the Junior Men’s Trap event at the Changwon International Shooting Range.
Lucas (Pacific, Missouri), who has only been shooting International Trap for the past year-and-a-half, made his international Finals debut at this World Championship, qualifying for the Final by tying for the highest score (120/125 targets), then winning a shootoff 9-8 to enter the Final with the best bib number.
That bib number would come into play when the field came down to the final three athletes – Lucas, Steven Argio of Australia and Lorenzo Ferrari of Italy. After 40 targets, Lucas and Ferrari were tied at 31 hits. Lucas had the better bib number (which is used for tie-breaking purposes in a Final) so Ferrari was eliminated and took the bronze medal.
Entering the final five targets, it looked as if Argio had all but sealed up the win. Argio would drop one target, then later two in a row. The Final was decided on the Final shot when Argio would win the gold with his final hit that gavehim 42 targets to Lucas’ 41.
“I knew entering the Final I just needed to be calm,” Lucas said. “I’m not a very calm person. I try to take stress the best I can – that’s something I’m going to be working on with [National Coach Jay Waldron] – but knew I had to keep going strong, breathe between every target and just take my time. Even at the end, I knew I just had to keep going strong – don’t let up. There was still that possibility that [Argio] could mess up, we could tie and send this thing to a shootoff.”
A relative newcomer to the international circuit, Lucas won his spot through the team trials process at the selection match in Tucson, Arizona earlier this year. Just weeks prior to the World Championship, Waldron invited Lucas to Colroado Springs, Colorado to train. Waldronnoted how hard Lucas worked, day in and day out - shooting three 120/125 matches in a row prior to coming to Changwon – the score he went on to shoot in Qualification at the World Championship.
“He shot his butt off in that Final,” said Waldron of Lucas’ performance. “That kid’s got it going on. He’s a really easy-going kid, mellow kid and it just ties over to his shooting. He’s super focused and not afraid just to let it rip, and that’s basically what he did on that Final.”
The last time the United States won a medal in Junior Men’s Trap was in 1997 when Matthew Depuydt won bronze in 1997. This World Championship is Lucas’ second international competition.
Also competing in Junior Men’s Trap was Dale Royer (Jackson, Montana), who finished in 16th place with 113 targets. Mick Wertz (Muncy, Pennsylvania) finished in 27th place with a score of 110.
Trap team medals are awarded based on the combined score of the three athletes from a country in the Qualification round. The USA Shooting Team finished in fourth place with a score of 343 - just two targets out of a team bronze medal.
The USA Shooting Women’s Trap team wouldn’t secure a Finals berth, but would win a team bronze medal with a combined score of 339. Spain won the team silver with a score of 342 and Italy won the team gold with a score of 343, setting a world record.
The top finisher for the U.S. women in Trap was Kayle Browning (Wooster, Arkansas) who finished in 11th place with a score of 114. Ashley Carroll (Solvang, California) also shot a 114, but placed in 14th place. Aeriel Skinner (Jackson, California) finished in 30th place with a score of 111.
The Women’s Trap Team of Carroll, Caitlin Weinheimer and Corey Cogdell-Unrein won team gold at last year’s Shotgun World Championship in Moscow, Russia.
Junior Men’s Air Pistol athlete Jack Leverett III (Bainbridge, Georiga) missed out on a potential Finals berth by just one point with his score of 573 to finish in ninth place. Leverett’s finish today is the best finish for an American Junior in Men’s Air Pistol since Will Brown finished in 11th place at the World Championship in 2010. The U.S. has never medaled in this event at a World Championship. Jack Leverett III bests his previous Junior World Championship finish last year in Suhl, Germany where he finished in 24th place.
Also competing in this event was his brother, Henry Leverett (Bainbridge, Georiga) who finished in 44th place with a score of 557. Kyler Swisher (Palmyra, Pennsylvania) finished in 50th place with a score of 555.
In Men’s Air Pistol, the top American finisher was 2012 Olympian Nick Mowrer (Butte, Montana) who finished in 26th place with a score of 577. James Herndon (Missoula, Montana) finished in 80th place with a score of 567 and James Hall (Anniston, Alabama) finished in 81st place with a score of 566.
The Men’s Three-Position Rifle competition began with elimination relays today. No placement is given off of finishes, but only the top 60 athletes move on to Qualification tomorrow. Three-time Olympic medalist Matt Emmons (Browns Mills, New Jersey) earned a score of 1174, two-time Olympian Michael McPhail (Darlington, Wisconsin/U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit) earned a score of 1173 – his highest international score to date, and 2016 Olympian Lucas Kozeniesky (Fairfax, Virginia) earned a score of 1164. All three advanced to tomorrow’s Qualification with Finals later in the day.
Complete results and start lists from the World Championship: https://www.issf-sports.org/competition ... hipid=1750.
The Finals for Men’s Three-Position Rifle, Junior Men’s Air Rifle, Junior Women’s Air Rifle and Trap Mixed Team will be contested tomorrow at the ISSF World Championship.
The 52nd ISSF World Championship runs through September 15 at the Changwon International Shooting Range. More than 1,800 athletes from 91 countries have gathered in Changwon to compete in the 15 Olympic Shooting events, as well as 51 non-Olympic events across five disciplines.
Check out the complete World Champs U.S. Team preview in the latest edition of USA Shooting News: http://www.usashooting.org/news/usasnew ... index.html.
Complete schedule of the ISSF World Championship (Changwon is 13 hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone): http://www.issf-sports.org/media/calend ... ith_VC.pdf.
Be sure to follow the team online throughout the World Championship:
Keep up with all the action by following USA Shooting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat (@usashooting), or via USA Shooting's website at http://www.usashooting.org.
USA Shooting Team Event HASHTAG: #USASWCH18
For event pictures, go to USA Shooting’s Flickr site