By Brittany Nelson, USAS Public Relations & Communications Manager
COLO SPRGS, CO (March 13, 2023) – USA Shooting skeet athletes earned a total of five medals at the International Shooting Sports Federation Doha, Qatar, Shotgun World Cup, March 4-13.
Alicia Gough, (Burlington, Wisconsin), took home her first ever World Cup medal after she placed third overall in the Women’s Trap event. Gough is a soldier with the U.S. Army’s Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) and a new mom. Gough gave birth to her first child in January of 2023 and then proceed to make the national shotgun team at the February 2023 selection match.
Gough earned a second medal, this time gold, in the Mixed Trap Team event with Will Hinton, (Dacula, Georgia), another USAMU soldier.
In the individual skeet events, the team took home three medals. Kimberly Rhode, (El Monte, California), earned gold in Women’s Skeet after a shoot off against Samantha Simonton, (Gainesville, Georgia), who earned silver.
In Men’s Skeet, Vincent Hancock, (Easton, Georgia), shot a perfect qualification score to land him in the finals where he ultimately earned a silver medal.
Benjamin Keller, (Johnstown, Colorado), shot a 124 out of 125 and placed seventh overall in Men’s Skeet.
Hancock and Rhode went on to win gold in the Mixed Skeet Team event after beating France in the gold medal match. Rhode now has a total of 37 ISSF World Cup medals and Hancock upped his total to 25.
Christian Elliott, (Phenix City, Alabama), and Dania Vizzi, (Odessa, Florida), also competed in the Mixed Skeet Team event and placed sixth overall.
In trap, Derek Haldeman (Sunbury, Ohio) and in skeet, Benjamin Keller, (Johnstown, Colorado) both shot 124 out of 125 in RPO (ranking points only) positions.
Alicia Gough, Will Hinton, Samantha Simonton, Christian Elliott, and Derek Haldeman are all part of the U.S. Army’s Marksmanship Unit.