COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (August 14, 2017)
Junior Olympic Champions Emily Hampson and Dale Royer get set to compete in Italy for the Junior World Cup.Twelve Junior shotgun athletes have made their way to Porpetto, Italy to compete in the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Cup for Shotgun. Competition begins Thursday and concludes on August 21.
It’s the lone World Cup dedicated specifically to Junior shotgun athletes in the ISSF season, and for most of the U.S. team, it also serves as a warmup for the ISSF World Championship for Shotgun in Moscow, Russia starting later this month.
A third of this year’s team has made a Final or medaled at recent Junior World Cups, including last year’s Women’s Skeet gold medalist, 18-year-old Katie Jacob (Rochester, Michigan). Jacob also medaled at her first World Cup at the Open level last year when she won bronze at the World Cup in Nicosia, Cyprus. Her Women’s Skeet teammate Sam Simonton (Gainesville, Georgia) also finished in fifth place at last year’s Junior World Cup. Rounding out the Women’s Skeet squad is 16-year-old Austen Smith (Kellar, Texas), who finished in first place in the grueling, three-match World Championship selection process. This World Cup will be Smith’s first international match.
At the Junior Cup in 2015, Women’s Trap competitor Emily Hampson (Saint Charles, Missouri) took home the gold and hopes to do the same again in Porpetto. That same year, Men’s Skeet athlete Christian Elliott (U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit/Greenwood, Indiana) finished in fifth place. Elliott, who earned a slot on the Men’s Open team for Moscow not only finished second overall in the World Championship selection process, most recently he also won gold at the Fort Worth (Texas) Grand Prix where he shot a perfect score of 125/125 targets.
Completing the Women’s Trap squad are Emma Williams (Savannah, Tennessee) and Joyce Hunsaker (Corpus Christi, Texas). Williams finished in 34th place at last year’s Junior World Cup and Hunsaker will be making her international debut in Porpetto.
The Men’s Trap side will be represented by former Double Trap specialist Dale Royer (Jackson, Montana), Logan Mountain (Palmdale, California) and Sevin Layer (Palm Harbor, Florida). All three athletes will be making their Junior World Cup debut. Royer shot his first international World Cup event as a Trap athlete earlier this year when he finished in 19th place at the World Cup in Acapulco, Mexico.
Joining Elliott in Men’s Skeet are Nic Moschetti (Broomfield, Colorado) and Eli Ellis (College Station, Texas). At this year’s National Junior Olympic Shooting Championships, Ellis shot a perfect 125/125.
More than 200 athletes from 31 nations will compete in this Junior World Cup. View the complete schedule and results: http://www.issf-sports.org/competitions ... hipid=1907.
ISSF Junior World Cup for Shotgun: Schedule of Finals
Thursday, August 17: Women’s Trap
Friday, August 18: Men’s Trap
Saturday, August 19: Test event - Mixed Trap Team
Sunday, August 20: Women’s Skeet
Monday, August 21: Men’s Skeet