Excerpt from USA Shooting — Following the prone athletes, Women’s 50m Rifle Three Position begins on June 6. 2012 U.S. Olympic Team nominee Jamie Gray (Lebanon, Pa.) will compete alongside her potential teammate. Like Uptagrafft, Gray earned her nod through the point system and looks to hone her skills prior to London.
Sarah Beard, the 2011 National Champion, is gearing up for Women's 50m Rifle Three Position. Photo courtesy of USA Shooting
The rest of the women’s smallbore field is stacked with talent and, holds several possible athletes capable of joining Gray. Sarah Beard (Danville, Ind.), a member of the NCAA National Overall Champion Team from Texas Christian University, won her first national championship title on Phillips range in 2011, and looks to top the field yet again.
TCU teammate Sarah Scherer (Woburn, Mass.) already earned a nomination to the 2012 Olympic Team for Women’s 10m Air Rifle, but will also toss her name in the hat for smallbore. Another recognizable face is 2012 National Junior Olympic Champion in both Women’s 10m Air Rifle and Women’s 50m Rifle Prone: Emily Holsopple (Wilcox, Pa.). This 20-year-old reached the smallbore podium at nationals last year and is eager to make her first Olympic team. In addition, Amy Sowash (Richmond, Ky.) and Amanda Furrer (Spokane, Wash.) are strong contenders as well. Sowash finished 20th at the London Prepares World Cup recently and is the 2010 National Champion in the event. Furrer was the bronze medalist at the 2011 Nationals and has been training daily at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs after the NCAA Championships.
“Having already qualified for the Team definitely takes a load off this time around,” said Scherer. “I haven’t put as much training in as I would like in smallbore, but I’m not worried about it. If it happens, it happens. It’s a great opportunity and I’m going to work really hard to try and earn that spot. There are more than a handful of women who can make this team and who are competing very well at this level right now and each of them are my really good friends and so if any of them make it I’m going to be psyched.”
The Women's Outdoor News, aka The WON, features news, reviews and stories about women who are shooting, hunting, fishing and actively engaging in outdoor adventure. This publication is for women, by women. View all posts by The WON
So proud of my lady Frogs! Love the purple additions. Good luck to all!