Admittedly it feels a little unfair that Dania Vizzi and Dustan Taylor led the competition after every day of qualifying, and both qualified for the gold medal finals with the top score but still go home without golds. But the rules of the competition are such that after 266 targets are used to determine the final two, it all comes down to one last round of 16 for the national title. Phillip Jungman and Sydney Carson were the spoilers as both posted perfect gold medal rounds to grab the national titles. How they got there is interesting for sure. Jungman was part of a three man group six behind the top two going into the final day. Hungman did his part with a perfect 50 and Taylor and Zachary McBee let the pack catch up with a 46 and a 45 respectively. Jungman still trailed McBee by a point for the final spot in the gold medal match but after a 15 in the final and a 13 from McBee it became Jungman and not McBee who would challenge Taylor. Once into the final Jungman seized the moment and his perfect 16 delivered an unlikely national title with a 16-14 win. McBee ended up in the bronze medal match but lost it to finish fourth. Hayden Stewart had entered the day in third but finished seventh after losing a shoot-off for a spot in the final.
On the women’s side there was a little less drama as Carson has been second going into the final day but Samantha Simonton drew even with her going into the final. Carson posted a 15, Simonton a 12, to ensure Carson would be the one challenging Vizzi in the final. Once there, just like Jungman, Carson left no down who would win the national title clearly defeating Vizzi 16-12. Simonton’s 12 in the final dropped her into a tie for fourth which she lost in a shoot-off so it was defending champion Caitlin Connor faced off with defending silver medalist Amber English in the bronze medal match. Both posted 13 scores so it went to a shoot-off which Connor won 2-1, defeating English in a final match for the second straight year.
With the national championships over in shotgun as well as rifle and pistol the attention is fully on Rio where the shotgun athletes will compete from August 7th through the 13th.
Previous 2016 USA Shooting Shotgun National Championships Coverage:
Preview
Monday Update
Tuesday Update
Wednesday Update
Thursday Update
Saturday Update
Sunday Update
Monday Update