SHOOTING: Double Trap and Skeet Competition Kicks off Friday at 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Shooting (Shotgun)

KERRVILLE, Texas (March 13, 2008) - Double Trap and Skeet Competition begins tomorrow at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Shooting (Shotgun). The 2008 U.S. Olympic team members for Double Trap will be selected on Saturday, while the Skeet team will be named on Sunday, which is the final day of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Shooting (Shotgun). Shotgun athletes are selected to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team based on the aggregate score from both the Fall Selection competition, which was held last August and the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials-Shooting (Shotgun). The USOC has final approval of all U.S. Olympic Team members. Two-time Olympian and USAMU shooter Glenn Eller (Katy, Texas) is in first place for Men's Double Trap following the Fall Selection Match with a score of 288 targets. Eller's USAMU teammates Jeff Holguin (Yorba, Linda, Calif.) and Josh Richmond (Hillsgrove, Pa.) are in second and third place respectively with scores of 286 and 278 targets. Bill Keever (Rutherfordton, N.C.), who is a 2000 Olympian and also a member of the USAMU, is in fourth place with 271. Bryce Gearhart (Freeburg, Pa.) and Gregory Patton (Williamsport, Pa.) are tied for fifth place with 268 targets. Eller, Holguin, Richmond and Keever dominated the podium in Double Trap competition on the international level in 2007. Eller claimed the gold medal at the World Cup in Korea in April as well as the World Cup final in October. Richmond took the gold at World Cup Italy in June. Richmond and Holguin also claimed the gold and silver in Men's Double Trap at the 2007 Pan American Games. Keever was the 2007 World Cup Korea bronze medalist. USAMU member Vincent Hancock (Eatonton, Ga.), who is the 2007 World Cup Italy Champion/world record holder and 2007 Pan American Games gold medalist, is currently standing in first place for Men's Skeet with a score of 247 targets. Sean McLelland (Mission, Texas) is in second with 243, while USAMU member Mark Weeks (Clinton Township, Mich.) is holding third place with 238 targets. Clay Hart (Athens, Ga.) is in fourth place with 237 targets. USAMU member and 2004 Olympian Shawn Dulohery (Lee's Summit, Mo.), four-time Olympian and 2000 Olympic bronze medalist Todd Graves (Laurel, Miss.), also a member of the USAMU, along with Frank Thompson (Alliance, Neb.) and Scott Schroeder (Niceville, Fla.) are all tied for fifth place with 235 targets. In Women's Skeet, Kim Rhode (El Monte, Calif.), is in first place with a score of 238 targets. A three-time Olympic medalist (1996 and 2004 gold medalist, 2000 bronze medalist) in Women's Double Trap, Rhode made the switch full-time to skeet following the 2004 Olympic Games after the Women's Double Trap event was eliminated from Olympic competition. Two-time Olympian Connie Smotek (Bryan, Texas) and 2007 World Cup Santo Domingo and Pan American Games gold medalist Haley Dunn (Eddyville, Iowa) are right behind Rhode in second and third place with 236 and 234 targets respectively. Shari Legate (Peyton, Colo.) is currently holding the fourth spot with 226 targets, while Laura Kolb (College Station, Texas) is in fifth place with 222 and 2007 Junior World Clay Target Champion Emily Blount (Tucson, Ariz.) and Ali Chiang (Redwood City, Calif.) are tied for sixth place with 219. Top shotgun shooters from around the United States are vying for spots on the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials-Shooting (Shotgun) March 8-16, which is being held at the Hill Country Shooting Sports Center in Kerrville, Texas. The U.S. Olympic Team Trials-Shooting is a collaborative partnership between the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) and USA Shooting. The Trap portion of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Shooting (Shotgun) concluded Wednesday with Bret Erickson (Bennington, Neb./Muenster, Texas) and Dominic Grazioli (Myrtle Beach, S.C./San Antonio, Texas), along with (Corey Cogdell (Eagle River, Alaska) being selected to the 2008 U.S. Olympic team in Men's and Women's Trap. There are eight spots available to the U.S. Olympic Shotgun team: Men's Skeet, 2; Men's Trap, 2; Men's Double Trap, 2; Women's Skeet, 1 and Women's Trap, 1. 2008 U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS-SHOOTING (SHOTGUN) COMPETITION SCHEDULE: Thursday, March 13 Men's Double Trap Official Training Men's and Women's Skeet Official Training Friday, March 14 Men's Double Trap Match Men's and Women's Skeet Match-Day 1 Saturday, March 15 Men's Double Trap Final (Selection of Olympic Team members for Double Trap) Men's and Women's Skeet Match-Day 2 Sunday, March 16 Men's and Women's Skeet Finals (Selection of Olympic Team members for Men's and Women's Skeet) Complete Double Trap and Skeet Olympic Selection Standings from 2007 Shotgun Fall Selection (first Olympic Selection Match) can be found by visiting www.usashooting.org. Media interested in more information should contact Mary Beth Vorwerk, Media and Public Relations Manager, USA Shooting, at (719)866-4896 or marybeth.vorwerk@usashooting.org.

Tags: Connie Smotek, Corey Cogdell, Dominic Grazioli, Emily Blount, Haley Dunn, Mark Weeks, Sean McLelland, Shari LeGate, Shawn Dulohery, Vincent Hancock