USAMU Soldiers Win at Shotgun Nationals
Courtesy USA Shooting
Colorado Springs, CO – Soldiers from the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) were among the more than 200 athletes from across the country and three countries who competed at the 2018 USA Shooting National Championships (USASNC) for the Shotgun discipline in Colorado Springs, Colorado from September 29 – October 10.
The first National Champions in the new Olympic event of Trap Mixed Team were crowned at the USA Shooting National Championships for Shotgun at the International Shooting Park near Fort Carson, Colorado.
After two days of competition, 150 targets, a Final and a Super Final in very windy, dusty conditions, the team of 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist and USAMU Soldier Sgt. 1st Class Glenn Eller from Katy, Texas and Aeriel Skinner (Jackson, California) emerged as the team Gold Medalists.
“It was a good match, we kept it together and just shot as we needed to shoot,” said Eller. “We finished off the Qualification great. Then, I started the Final badly, but Aeriel picked it up, and we finished it out.”
Eller and Skinner finished each day of Qualification with the highest overall score.
“We joked earlier that you can’t feel comfortable with a nine-target lead until there are eight targets left!” said Skinner. “Turns out, it kind of came true!”
Eller and Skinner finished nine targets ahead of Silver Medalists Kaylee Browning (Wooster, Arkansas) and Brian Burrows (Fallbrook, California).
The team of two-time Olympic Bronze Medalist Corey Cogdell-Unrein (Eagle River, Alaska) and Jake Wallace (Castaic, California) won Bronze.
Not only were the first national titles awarded in this event, but this match also served as the selection match for Trap Mixed Teams that will represent the United States at the Championship of the Americas (CAT Games) in November, as well as the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cups in Acapulco, Mexico and Al Ain, United Arab Emirates next year.
The USASNC came to a close with the crowning of Skeet National Champions on a cold, snowy day at the International Shooting Park just south of Fort Carson, Colorado.
On the men’s side, USAMU Soldier Spc. Christian Elliott, a native of Greenville, Indiana won Gold over his USAMU teammate Sgt. Dustan Taylor from Staley, North Carolina. Elliott entered the Final with the top Qualification score of 246/250 targets. Elliott also won last year’s Junior Men’s Skeet National Championship title.
“I started out with two, 123s so that was really good to start in the top spot,” Elliott said. “Then it got dark, cold and the sun went away at the beginning of the Final, so I had to do a lens change. Missed a couple targets early, did the lens change, but then we were back on track.”
The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit wins national and international shooting competitions, supports Army accessions, and advances small arms lethality to demonstrate Army marksmanship capability, enhance recruiting and increase marksmanship effectiveness in combat. USAMU is part of the U.S. Army Marketing Engagement Brigade and the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.