{"id":14782,"date":"2012-06-11T20:18:06","date_gmt":"2012-06-12T01:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/?p=14782"},"modified":"2012-06-11T20:18:06","modified_gmt":"2012-06-12T01:18:06","slug":"parker-earns-fourth-olympic-team-nomination-at-the-u-s-olympic-team-trials-for-smallbore-u-s-olympicparalympic-teams-for-shooting-set-for-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/parker-earns-fourth-olympic-team-nomination-at-the-u-s-olympic-team-trials-for-smallbore-u-s-olympicparalympic-teams-for-shooting-set-for-london\/14782\/","title":{"rendered":"Parker Earns Fourth Olympic Team Nomination at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Smallbore; U.S. Olympic\/Paralympic Teams for Shooting Set for London"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jason Parker celebrates his fourth U.S. Olympic Team nomination.<\/p><\/div>\n

Sergeant First Class Jason Parker<\/strong>(USAMU\/Omaha, Neb.) didn\u2019t let a torrential downpour deter him from his Olympic dreams.\u00a0 Parker delivered world-class results to earn a nomination to his fourth U.S. Olympic Team in today\u2019s U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Men\u2019s 50m Rifle Three Position from Fort Benning, Ga.<\/p>\n

With Parker\u2019s results, 2012 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Team selection is now complete for USA Shooting with 22 members set to represent the U.S. in London.\u00a0 The roster of shooting sports specialists includes six pistol shooters, eight riflemen and woman, six shotgun shooters and two Paralympians.\u00a0 \u00a0All together, the 20-person Olympic team will be formidable having competed in 25 Olympic Games overall while garnering 11 Olympic medals previously including five gold.<\/p>\n

Also, with geographic footprints that include Hawaii, Alaska, Belarus and Singapore, this team is truly one that spans the globe with athletes having spent significant amounts of time in 19 different states.<\/p>\n

As has traditionally been the case, the makeup of this team will have a distinct military flavor with nine Olympians and two Paralympians either currently serving or having previously served in the U.S. military.\u00a0\u00a0 Seven of those athletes hail from the U.S. Army\u2019s Marksmanship Unit in Fort Benning, Ga.<\/p>\n

For a complete roster of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team for Shooting, click <\/em><\/strong>here<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 To visit the Olympic\/Paralympic pages of the USA Shooting website, click <\/em><\/strong>here. <\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Heavy rains and target malfunctions delayed the match for nearly three hours.\u00a0 Ultimately, the match administrators were forced to cancel the last day of the match for Men\u2019s 50m Rifle Three Position (with the exception of the nine athletes in contention for the Olympic spot).\u00a0 Due to previous performances and appearances in the final, Parker, Specialist\u00a0 Joseph Hall<\/strong> (USAMU\/Carrollton, Ga.), Matt Wallace <\/strong>(Fairbanks, Alaska), Sergeant Joseph Hein<\/strong> (USAMU\/Mason, Mich.), Tom Csenge<\/strong> (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Dempster<\/strong> Christenson<\/strong> (Sioux Falls, S.D.), Sergeant George Norton<\/strong> (USAMU\/Columbus, Ga.) and Michael Matthews<\/strong> (Johns Creek, Ga.) shot a reduced course of fire\u2014three positions, 20 shots in lieu of 40 shots to determine the top-8 finalists.<\/p>\n

Parker, who held a nearly 13 point lead on the competition, was untouchable with 583 match points and 101.6 points in the final.\u00a0 \u201cToday was very difficult as the targets went down because of rain and lightning, then we had a three hour delay and a different course of fire,\u201d said Parker.\u00a0 \u201cAll those things added up and each had their own unique strategy to deal with them.\u00a0 I had some food on the range to stay fueled and water to stay hydrated.\u201d\u00a0 Parker finished with 3124.1 total points to earn another opportunity to represent his country on the Olympic stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to my wife Andrea, my boys Tommy and Wyatt for being there and supporting me on the range the past few days and for several years,\u201d began a very grateful Parker.\u00a0 \u201cMy parents Dale and Sharon Parker, without them none of this would have ever happened.\u00a0 I\u2019d also like to acknowledge the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit for all the things they have provided so we can compete and do well here and represent our country in the Olympics and USA Shooting for all the support they have given me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hall finished second overall with 3109 points and Wallace was in third with 3105.7 points.\u00a0 Parker, Hall and Wallace also all earned positions on the USA Shooting National Rifle Team as a result of their top performances.\u00a0 Hein shot 3104.8 total points for fifth and was followed by Csenge (3101.7), Christenson (3093.7), Norton (3091.6), Matthews (3089) and Garrett Spurgeon<\/strong> (Canton, Mo.) with 3087.9 points.\u00a0 Additionally, Spurgeon and Matthews earned spots on the National Junior Team as the top two junior shooters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe selected a great team and saw many world-class performances from both the younger athletes and the veterans,\u201d said National Rifle Coach Major Dave Johnson<\/strong>.\u00a0 \u201cBoth the current Olympic team is strong and the future Olympic prospects are exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Women\u2019s 10m Air Rifle, 2012 U.S. Olympic Team nominees Sarah Scherer <\/strong>(Woburn, Mass.) and Jamie Gray<\/strong> (Lebanon, Pa.) packed a one-two punch for the gold and silver.\u00a0 Scherer started out with 398 match points on day one and followed it up with near perfection at 399.\u00a0 Gray shot 397 and 398 to enter the final two points behind Scherer but gained ground with the highest final of 103.8 points.\u00a0 Scherer kept her lead with 102.2 points for 899.2 points overall to Gray\u2019s 898.8.\u00a0 U.S. Olympic Training Center Resident Athlete Amy Sowash<\/strong> (Richmond, Ky.) won the bronze medal with 888.5 points.\u00a0 All three athletes (Scherer, Gray and Sowash) earned spots on the National Rifle Team.\u00a0 Joining them on the National Junior Team are Kelsey Emme<\/strong> (Piedmont, S.D.) and Haylea Broughton<\/strong> (Tulsa, Okla.) who earned top honors in the junior category with gold and silver respectively.\u00a0 The junior bronze medalist was Catherine Green<\/strong> (Coventry, R.I.).<\/p>\n

In Men\u2019s Standard Pistol, a non-Olympic event, the podium was laden with USAMU gold and black.\u00a0 Specialist Greg Markowski<\/strong> (USAMU\/Columbus, Ga.) won the gold medal with 1145 points, Sergeant First Class Thomas Rose<\/strong> (USAMU\/Columbus, Ga.) took the silver medal with 1132 points and Specialist Sean Ragay<\/strong> (USAMU\/Columbus, Ga.) finished with 1121 points for the bronze medal.<\/p>\n

The Men\u2019s Centerfire Pistol match also wrapped up today with a new National Champion.\u00a0 Sergeant Brad Balsley<\/strong> (USAMU\/Uniontown, Pa.) finished in first with 1160 points.\u00a0 John Bickar<\/strong> (Tucson, Ariz.) was second with 1159 points and Rose finished third at 1158.<\/p>\n

Alexander Chichkov<\/strong> (Temple Terrace, Fla.), son of Assistant National Pistol Coach Vladimir Chichkov, won the Junior Men\u2019s Sport Pistol event.\u00a0 Chichkov shot 1132 points for a six-point advantage over the competition.\u00a0 Calvin Li<\/strong> (Great Falls, Va.) won the silver medal at 1132 and Nathan Switzer<\/strong> (Newport News, Va.) won the bronze with 1099 points.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sergeant First Class Jason Parker(USAMU\/Omaha, Neb.) didn\u2019t let a torrential downpour deter him from his Olympic dreams.\u00a0 Parker delivered world-class results to earn a nomination to his fourth U.S. Olympic Team in today\u2019s U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Men\u2019s 50m Rifle Three Position from Fort Benning, Ga. With Parker\u2019s results, 2012 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":14783,"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":[2452,2330],"class_list":["post-14782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bloggers","category-usa-shooting","tag-jason-parker","tag-usa-shooting-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14782","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=14782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}