The men’s rifle competition didn’t see much drama at the top as Lucas Kozeniesky cruised to the first of two qualifying spots with the top qualifying score (627.4) and a second place finish in the final. His final margin of 18.6 over second place showed there was no real drama for him on Sunday. But drama was plentiful in the race for second. Ivan Roe had been in second going into the day but had a disaster shooting a 617.5 and not making the final. He held on to second place before the final but it was only by a tenth of a point over Daniel Lowe so there was no way he could stay in front and his Rio hopes were over. Lowe wasn’t guaranteed the spot though. Bryant Wallizer came from nowhere to pull a point behind Lowe after a big time qualifying round and Dempster Christenson had rallied from a first day missed final to sit just 1.3 behind Lowe. Wallizer ended up being the first man out in the final narrowing the race for the final Olympic spot to Lowe and Christenson. Those two became part of the final three but Christenson was knocked out first and finished in sixth, clinching the spot for Lowe. In the end Lowe finished with a 3.3 point lead over Christenson.

Jason Turner put himself in position to challenge Will Brown for the Olympic berth in the men’s air pistol during Sunday’s final but was unable to take advantage as a last place finish cost him any hopes of going to Rio and saw Brown rise to the occasion with fourth place finish that was plenty good enough. Turner had been one of four shooters (though the only one in occasion) to post a qualifying high 575 to start the day, one better than Brown’s score, but he needed to finish ahead of Brown in the final to overcome his one point deficit and when he was the first one knocked out Brown had locked up a spot in Rio. Brown finished with a 1746 total, five ahead of Turner, while Alexander Chichkov won the final to lock up third, 11 points behind Brown.

Sarah Scherer had no easy path on Sunday as she won the women’s air rifle competition with a second place finish in the final. Sagen Maddalena closed to within 3.2 points with Elizabeth Gratz just 1.1 behind her after both topped Scherer in qualifying where Gratz had a qualifying high 417.5. Scherer would be fine as long as she finished in the top half and did more than that as she outlasted both Maddalena (who finished fourth) and Gratz (who finished sixth) en route to a second place finish. Scherer’s final margin was 5.2 over Maddalena with Gratz another 3.1 back.

Lydia Paterson grabbed her spot with ease in the women’s air pistol as she posted the best qualifying score of the day (a 381) and won the final for the third straight day. Her final margin of victory was a whopping 24 points over Alexis Lagan with Courtney Anthony and Sandra Uptagrafft both finishing 28 points back in third. Paterson may or may not be a medal contender in Rio but she’s clearly the best the US has to send.

In the end all five shooters who held the Olympic spots after day one ending up securing them, with only Lowe losing his hold on the spot on Saturday evening.

With the US Olympic team finalized the attention turns to two separate events that will attract US shooters later in June. The Rifle and Pistol National Championships will take place in Ft. Benning, Georgia June 22nd-29th while from June 20th-29th in Baku, Azerbaijan there will be an ISSF World Cup event featuring rifle, pistol, and shotgun events.

Previous US Air Shooting Olympic Trials Coverage:
Preview
Friday Update
Saturday Update

The most dramatic event on Saturday at the Air Shooting Olympic Trials might be one where an Olympic spot is all but locked in. Lucas Kozeniesky has seemingly locked up one of the two spots available in the men’s rifle competition as he had the top qualifying score of 626.5 and finished second in the final to open up a 9.6 point lead over second place and a seemingly insurmountable 18 point lead over third place. I say seemingly because the events of Saturday’s competition show you almost anything is possible. Daniel Lowe had held the second qualifying spot after day one but was way off the pace in qualifying and missed out on the final by 2.2 points. Ivan Roe took advantage with a solid qualifying score and a fourth place finish (nothing spectacular) and went from 0.3 behind Lowe to a big 8.9 point lead. Matthew Rawlings moved into third but after finishing last in the final he is well behind Roe and would need a big final day to get into second. Dempster Christenson is in the same boat but won the final to at least keep himself afloat just a tenth of a point behind Rawlings. One this is certain, Rawlings, Christenson, and Lowe will all be hoping Roe has the same misfortune in his qualifying round that Lowe did on Saturday to open the door for others to move into contention.

Things also continue to remain tight in the men’s air pistol where Jason Turner posted a qualifying best 281 to bring himself level with Will Brown going into the final on day two. Brown won the final to stay in first overall with Turner finishing third and ending the day two points behind Brown, right where he started it. Miscues by James Hall (an eighth place finish in the final), Alexander Chichkov (a 571 in qualifying), and Nickolaus Mowrer (a 575 in qualifying and a sixth place finish in the final) mean third place Chichkov and Hall are now 10 points behind second. This one seems like it’ll come down to the final on Sunday to determine if Turner or Brown is going to Rio.

Lydia Paterson pulled away in the women’s air pistol as she was within a point of the top score in qualifying (a 381 by Alexis Lagan) and then won the final for the second straight day to extend her lead from 10 points to 20 over Lagan. Brenda Silva is now third but 23 points back. Paterson seems to have this one in the bag barring an absolute collapse on the final day of the trials.

Sagen Maddalena posted a phenomenal 418 in qualifying, 1.9 points better than anyone else in the field, but finished fourth in the final to miss an opportunity to put some real pressure on Sarah Scherer going into the final day of the women’s air rifle competition. Scherer was fairly average in qualifying, leaving the door open to competitors, but slammed it shut with a win in the final to grow her lead to four points going into the final day. With Rhiann Travis and Amy Sowash faltering (Travis with a 411.5 and Sowash with a 412.5 in qualifying as both missed the final) Elizabeth Gratz took advantage with a second place finish in the final to move into third, six points back.

Previous US Air Shooting Olympic Trials Coverage:
Preview
Friday Update

Leaders emerged in all four competitions after the first day of the Air Shooting Olympic Trials but none stood out more than Lydia Paterson in women’s air pistol. Paterson dominated the field shooting a 387, nine better than anyone else, and then went on to win the final to end the day up 10 points on Courtney Anthony. Alexis Lagan is 15 points back in third.

The closest competition comes in the men’s air pistol where Will Brown had the top score in qualifying with a 574 but came in third in the final and only leads James Hall and Jason Turner by two points. Alexander Chichkov is well within striking range three points back as is Nickolaus Mowrer who is four back.

In the women’s air rifle Sarah Scherer was the only one of the three Americans with top 15 world cup finishes this year to really shine on day one. Scherer had the top qualifying score of 417.3 and finished second in the final to hold a 2.9 point lead. Sarah Beard was within 1.5 of Scherer in qualifying but finished last in the final and is over seven points back. Emily Holsopple was further back than Beard in qualifying and her second to last place finish in the final has her over eight points back. Scherer does have some competition however from Rhiann Travis, who is in second after winning the final, Amy Sowash, who was third in the final after a solid qualifying round, and Elizabeth Gratz, who sits 4.9 points back in fourth.

In the men’s rifle competition, where two spots are up for grabs, Lucas Kozeniesky posted the top qualifying score of 628.5 and finished third in the final to finish in front after the first day by 3.4 points. Daniel Lowe is in second after posting the second best qualifying score and finishing fourth in the final. Ivan Roe won the final to make up for a weaker qualifying score and is in third just 0.3 behind the second qualifying spot. Matthew Rawlings makes it one more in contention as he sits 4.9 behind Lowe in fourth place. Dempster Christenson had a disappointing day with a qualifying score that missed out on the final by 0.8 and he is now 12.5 points out of qualifying position, a real uphill challenge.

Previous US Air Shooting Olympic Trials Coverage:
Preview