COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The 2008 USA Shooting 3 X Air Match concluded with Tom Csenge, Brian Beaman, Sarah Scherer and Brenda Shinn claiming titles on the final day of competition.
University of Kentucky’s Tom Csenge (Keene, N.H.) captured the day three title for Men’s Air Rifle, firing a match score of 592, a final of 101.2 for an overall score of 693.2. Olympic Training Center Resident Athlete Matt Wallace (Fairbanks, Alaska) grabbed second place with 692.8, while West Point Cadet and 2008 Olympian Stephen Scherer finished in third with a total score of 690.4. Scherer also captured first place for the junior men and Dempster Christenson (Sioux Falls, S.D.) took second with 688.5. Thomas Chandler of the United States Air Force Academy finished in third place with 687.9.
Day One Champion, Brian Beaman (Selby, S.D.), a 2008 Olympian, won his second title of the 2008 3 X Air match taking first place for Men’s Air Pistol, shooting a qualification score of 584 and final of 100.7, finishing with an overall score of 684.7. Nick Budnella (Colorado Springs, Colo.), who won the day two title, finished in second place with a total score of 679.5. U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) member and three-time Olympian Daryl Szarenski (Saginaw, Mich) took third place for the second day in a row with a score of 676.5. For the third consecutive day, Anthony Lutz (Tonganoxie, Kan.) won the title for junior men, finishing with an overall score of 666.5. Garrett Wright (Boerne, Texas) took second place with 649.9, while Nick Mowrer (Ramsay, Mont.) grabbed the third spot with 645.7.
Sarah Scherer (Billerica, Mass.) finished on top of the podium in Women’s Air Rifle with a match score of 396, a final of 101.9 for a total score of 497.9. University of Kentucky’s Megan English (Boulder, Colo.) took second place with 497.3. Two-time Olympian Emily Caruso (Fairfield, Conn.), who was the Day Two Champion, along with Day One Champion Meghann Morrill (Verdi, Nev.) each finished the final with a score of 495.7. In the shoot-off, Caruso fired a 9.6 to Morrill’s 9.5 to take third place. Scherer also won the title for the junior women, while English took second and Ashley Jackson (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) took third with 493.5.
In Women’s Pistol, 2008 Olympian Brenda Shinn (Riverside, Calif.) took the top spot after an exciting shoot-off with Day One Champion Sandra Uptagrafft (Phenix City, Ala.). Shinn and Uptagrafft both finished the final with an overall score of 470.9, but Shinn defeated Uptagrafft in the shoot-off, firing a 10.4 to Uptagrafft’s 9.9, taking first place while Uptagrafft finished second. Hannah Lewis (Colorado Springs, Colo.) took third place with 463.9. Lewis also won the title for the junior women, while Kylie Gagnon (Bozeman, Mont.) finished second with 461.9 and Rebekah Jennings (Boerne, Texas) grabbed the third spot with 457.2.
Approximately 220 rifle and pistol airgun shooters from across the United States as well as Canada, France, Great Britain, South Africa and Sweden competed in the 2008 3 X Air Match at the U.S. Olympic Shooting Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. December 5-7. Identical competitions took place in rifle and pistol with finals matches closing out each day of competition. This three-day event served as a qualifier for the Bavarian Airgun Match in Munich, Germany, which will be held in January.
A full match schedule as well as complete 3 X Air match results can be found by visiting USA Shooting’s website at www.USAShooting.org.
