Progressive-Position Pistol
PPP National Championships Bring Pistol Youth Together
In the end it cost National
Assistant Pistol Coach Russ Doucette a ponytail (pic- tured below), but the expres- sion and emotion he dis- played on the medal stand says it was all worth it. Similar emotion can be
PPP National Championship exceeded more than 100 participants. Three National Junior members competed in the event as well this year. Doucette’s Massachu-
setts Junior Pistol Team of Isabel Macaulay (Concord),
“Many years ago I grew
a tail because of an event which is a story for another time,” Doucette said. “When I was coaching the kids they would ask me about my tail and l I told them it was there until a team from Massachu-
I’m still trying to fi gure that out. I was overwhelmed with pride, happiness, joy and I guess a little sadness. And so it goes (no pun intended) the tale of the tail.” It’s that type of spirit that
makes the PPP National Championships so critical to the long-term growth of international pistol shooting in the United States. Youth involvement in the pistol dis- cipline is a primary goal of USA Shooting to help create greater participation within the sport and to ultimately increase the quality and depth of our future Olympic pistol athletes. Macaulay earned her
extracted from organizers and competitors following year two of the dual-venue National Progressive-Posi- tion Pistol (PPP) National Championships that seems to be working. This year’s championship brought a record 132 competitors to one of two regional venues, USA Shooting’s International Shooting Center in Colorado Springs or the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (US- AMU) in Fort Benning, Geor- gia. Last year’s 116 compet- itors was the fi rst time the
Vladlen Vronsky (Brighton) and Kevin Bennett (Bel- mont) scored a pistol team national title in the Interna- tional Standing event, forc- ing Doucette to make good on a bet he made 15 years ago when he decided to start growing a pony tail and said he wouldn’t cut it off until his team had a National Cham- pionship. Macaulay cut the ponytail off for all to see as the team stood atop the po- dium in Colorado Springs. It was an emotional moment for Doucette.
setts wins a gold medal at a National event and when that happens they will have the right to cut it off. That story got passed on year-to- year from shooter to shooter. I never anticipated that they would really cut my tail off if they won the gold medal but guess what, I was wrong. When these kids realized that they probably had won gold they started search- ing for a knife and I started to worry. A tear came to my eye because of my loss, or, was it because of their win?
way on to the newly-formed USA Shooting Junior Olympic Squad for her performance and second-place overall fi nish joining new National Champion Kylie Turner (Pocahantas, Arkansas). This year’s bronze medalist is Colorado Springs native Carson Saabye who also fi n- ished fi rst in the Sub-Junior International Standing event and helped guide her team to a second-place overall fi nish in the International Standing event. The men’s competition
was a close affair with seven competitors within six points of one another. Charlie En- glund (Lynchburg, Virginia) earned a one-point victory to be crowned National Cham- pion and earn his Junior Olympic Squad status while
September 2014 | USA Shooting News 43
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68