{"id":14762,"date":"2012-06-11T12:15:36","date_gmt":"2012-06-11T17:15:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/?p=14762"},"modified":"2012-06-11T12:15:36","modified_gmt":"2012-06-11T17:15:36","slug":"furrer-sanderson-and-milev-on-target-london-bound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/furrer-sanderson-and-milev-on-target-london-bound\/14762\/","title":{"rendered":"Furrer, Sanderson and Milev On-Target & London Bound"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

2012 U.S. Olympic Team nominee congratulates her new Olympic teammate Amanda Furrer.<\/p><\/div>\n

In what should go down as one of the most tightly contested rifle competitions in Olympic Trials history, Amanda Furrer <\/strong>(Spokane, Wash.) came back from despair to grab her spot on the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team for Shooting.\u00a0 At the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Fort Benning, Ga., Furrer earned her Olympic nomination while Sergeant First Class Keith Sanderson <\/strong>(WCAP\/Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Emil Milev <\/strong>(Temple Terrace , Fla.) secured their Olympic status in far less dramatic fashion.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Amanda Furrer focuses during the final.<\/p><\/div>\n

Having built a 3.2 yesterday over her nearest competitor the past two days, Furrer increased that lead to 7.1 after the first position (standing) of today\u2019s qualifying match.\u00a0 Sailing along at that point, Furrer had her toughest round of the competition shooting a 187 in the standing portion which left the window open for Sarah Scherer <\/strong>(Woburn, Mass.) after she shot an outstanding 196 to grab the lead back from Furrer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI completely thought I was out of it at that point,\u201d said Furrer.\u00a0 \u201cI went outside and fought back the tears and I talked to my dad and he told me to hang in there and he calmed me down a little bit.\u00a0 I just decided right there that I was not going to give up and I just was not going to let it end like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fight back she did after posting an incredible 196 to Scherer\u2019s 192 in the kneeling position to take a slim 2.1 point lead heading into the day\u2019s final.\u00a0 Unseating Furrer at that point would have taken a 101.8 final from Scherer, something she would be unable to muster after shooting a 7.9 on shot six of the 10 shot final.<\/p>\n

Despite the result, Scherer was still satisfied with her performance, boosted no doubt by the fact that she\u2019ll also be an Olympian alongside Furrer after qualifying for the Team in Air Rifle.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m very satisfied with my performance,\u201d said Scherer.\u00a0 \u201cI worked really hard at this match and I\u2019m very happy with my scores.\u00a0 I\u2019m really excited for Amanda because I know she\u2019s going to be able to put up a good fight in London.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scherer’s Texas Christian University teammate Sarah Beard<\/strong> (Danville, Ind.) finished fourth overall with 1950 points.\u00a0 U.S. Olympic Training Center Resident Athlete Amy Sowash<\/strong> (Richmond, Ky.) was in fifth with 1948.9 followed by 2008 Olympian Sandy Fong<\/strong> (New York, N.Y.) at 1945.9.\u00a0 University of Kentucky’s Emily Holsopple<\/strong> (Wilcox, Pa.) shot 1942.4 points for seventh place.<\/p>\n

\"\"

2012 U.S. Olympic Team nominees for Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol (L to R) Keith Sanderson and Emil Milev.<\/p><\/div>\n

In Men\u2019s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol, Sanderson shot a new national match record and tied the world match record of 591 points. Sanderson finished with 1781 total points and earned a nomination to his second U.S. Olympic Team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI shot okay, but not as good as I wanted to\u2014I was hoping for one point higher, but I\u2019m not complaining.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to be satisfied with it, I want to be hungry when I go into the Olympic Games and do better.\u00a0 I\u2019m really happy with the U.S. Army\u2019s World Class Athlete Program and the support they have given me and my wife\u2019s support\u2014I wouldn\u2019t be here without it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sanderson will be joined by four-time Olympian Milev, who will enter the Olympic stadium proudly wearing the red, white and blue.\u00a0 Milev claimed the second Men\u2019s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol nomination today with 1768 points. Milev, born and raised in Bulgaria, won the silver medal in 1996 in Atlanta and fell in love with America.\u00a0 Seven years later, he moved his family to Florida in search of a better life, but was unsure of his shooting plans for the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was thinking after 2007, I will stop [shooting] and this will be it\u2014I was heading in another direction, teaching,\u201d said Milev.\u00a0 \u201cBut I like shooting and I kept coming to Nationals and kept practicing from time to time and slowly my results improved and it all just happened. I want to thank National Pistol Coach Sergey Luzov because he believed in me even when I wasn\u2019t sure that I could do it.\u00a0 I\u2019d also like to recognize Assistant National Pistol Coach Vladimir Chichkov, he is the one who pushed me from the beginning and encouraged me; my family\u2014they certainly suffer the most because I\u2019m not home but give me love and support; and the people at USA Shooting who have accepted me as one of you [American]\u2014I don\u2019t feel foreign anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit’s (USAMU) Sergeant Brad Balsley<\/strong> (Uniontown, Pa.) finished third overall with 1739 points.\u00a0 He was followed by USAMU teammate Specialist Sean Ragay<\/strong> (Columbus, Ga.) at 1737.\u00a0 John Bickar<\/strong> (Tucson, Ariz.) was fifth with 1732 points and Specialist Seth Berglee<\/strong> (USAMU\/Columbus, Ga.) shot 1732 for sixth.<\/p>\n

In Men’s 10m Air Rifle National Championship competition, Bryant Wallizer<\/strong> (Little Orleans, Md.) won the gold medal with 1291 points earning a spot on the National Rifle Team.\u00a0 2012 U.S. Olympic Team nominee Jonathan Hall<\/strong> (Carrollton, Ga.) won the silver medal with 1288.7 points and Thomas Csenge<\/strong> (Colorado Springs, Colo.) won the bronze with 1286.9 points.<\/p>\n

Recent 2012 U.S. Olympic Team nominee Petty Officer First Class Sandra Uptagrafft <\/strong>(Phenix City, Ala.) was the gold medalist in Women\u2019s 10m Air Pistol.\u00a0 Riding the high from her Women\u2019s 25m Sport Pistol victory, Uptagrafft shot 861.2.\u00a0 U.S. Olympic Training Center Resident Athlete Teresa Meyer<\/strong> (Dearborn, Mich.) shot 858.7 points for the silver medal and Courtney Anthony<\/strong> (Lexington, Neb.) shot 854.3 points for the bronze.\u00a0 All three earned spots on the National Pistol Team.<\/p>\n

Through eight days of competition at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Smallbore, six Olympians have been added to the team including Nick Mowrer <\/strong>(Butte, Mont.) in Men\u2019s 50-meter Free Pistol, Sandra Uptagrafft <\/strong>(Phenix City, Ala.) in Women\u2019s 25m Pistol and Michael McPhail <\/strong>(USAMU\/Darlington, Wis.) in Men\u2019s 50m Prone Rifle.\u00a0 One Olympic spot in Men\u2019s Three-Position Rifle still remains before the\u00a0 20-member 2012 U.S. Olympic Team for Shooting is complete. That event will start the first of their three-day competition on Saturday and the eventual Olympic nominee will be named on Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In what should go down as one of the most tightly contested rifle competitions in Olympic Trials history, Amanda Furrer (Spokane, Wash.) came back from despair to grab her spot on the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team for Shooting.\u00a0 At the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Fort Benning, Ga., Furrer earned her Olympic nomination while […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":14763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[116,165],"tags":[3608],"class_list":["post-14762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bloggers","category-usa-shooting","tag-usa-shooting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}