MUNICH, Germany – Shannon Wilson (Fairfax Station, Va.) and Beki Snyder (Colorado Springs, Colo.) both took home medals from the Bavarian Airgun Championships, held January 26-28, in Munich, Germany. Wilson took the bronze medal in junior women’s air rifle, whereas Snyder won the gold medal in women’s air pistol.
The Bavarian Airgun Championships consists of two separate competitions in each international airgun event over the course of three days. The U.S. Airgun Team that went to Munich was decided in December’s Three Times Air competition and includes rifle shooters Emily Caruso, Jason Parker, Ryan Tanoue, Elisha LaFond, Meaghan Morrill, and Shannon Wilson; and pistol shooters Jason Turner, Tom Rose, Beki Snyder, Cody Owsley, Nicholas Budnella, and Anthony Lutz.
On Friday, Wilson, who has been on the U.S. National Development Rifle Team for just a couple of months, showed great progress by improving upon her 386 qualifying score one day earlier with a 394 qualifying score and a spot in the finals in the second women’s junior air rifle event of the Championships. Wilson found herself tied for second with five other young women going into the final. She then continued to shoot an amazing 10-shot final to finish with a 103.0 final score and a spot on the medal stand. Petra Kastankova, of the Czech Republic, won this event with a 498.1 total score. Darya Vdovina, of Russia took second with a 497.7 total score. The USA’s Elisha LaFond finished sixth, making the final with a 394, but only shooting a 100.0 final for a 494 total score.
In the second women’s air pistol event, on Saturday, Snyder found herself sitting in second going into the final with a 388 qualifying score, a vast improvement from her first air pistol finish on Thursday, where she shot a 380 and placed 22nd . The Female ISSF Shooter of the Year, Jasna Sekaric, led this second group of qualifiers with a 390 going into the final, but Snyder showing great mental toughness, shooting a 100.2 final score and walking away with the gold. Serbia-Montenegro’s Sekaric finished second with a 486.9, while Denmark’s Susanne Meyerhoff finished third with a 484.9.
Another impressive turn-around was in the men’s air rifle event. on Thursday, the top finisher for the U.S. was Ryan Tanoue, who shot a 594 qualifying score and placed 19th. Two days later, however, Tanoue was able to make the final in the second men’s air rifle competition, shooting a 595 qualifying score and a 100.2 final score to place eighth.
The USA’s only representative in women’s air rifle, Olympic Training Center resident athlete Emily Caruso, finished well in her first competition, on Friday. Caruso shot a 396 qualifying score and a 102.9 final for a 498.9 total score and a sixth-place finish. She shot the same score in the second match, but was pushed out of the final in a tiebreaking procedure, and finished ninth.
In the first junior men’s air pistol event, which took place on Thursday, the USA’s young squad didn’t disappoint with Nicholas Budnella finishing in 16th place with a 563, Anthony Lutz just behind him in 19th place with a 562 and Cody Owsley placing 21st with a 560. But, in the second event, Budnella stepped it up, finishing five points higher than in the first competition, and finishing in 11th.
And, finally, in men’s air pistol, Staff Sgt. Thomas Rose, of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, has been making some major international strides in his first year on the National Team. Rose, who won the gold in men’s air pistol at the CAT Games in 2005, was also the top U.S. finisher at Bavarian. Rose finished 27th in the first competition with a 576, and 18th in the second competition with a 579.
For more information or full results from this event, please visit the Bavarian Airgun Championships website.
Related links
· ISSF
· NRA Sports
· Civilian Marksmanship Program
· More about USA Shooting
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