Morgan Craft 2015 Women’s Skeet World Champion, 2016 Olympic Team Nominee &RQÀ GHQFH EUHHGV VXF
cess and there’s no greater example of that than the rise of skeet shooter Morgan Craft in 2015. Having demonstrated the
ability to compete at the elite level, all she had to do was prove it—mostly to herself. This year, and in particular at the Cyprus World Cup, she had the breakthrough she was seeking. Now, she’s soaking in all the attention that comes as World Cham- pion and an Olympian. Don’t call it luck, though.
She doesn’t believe in it, and so she’s out to prove that ZDV QRW D Á XNH
´7KLV \HDU GHÀ QLWHO\ H[ ceeded my expectations giv- en I medaled in four straight competitions,” Craft says. “I’ve kind of been on the brink of things for a while
now.Finally in Cyprus, it re- ally hit me that I could do it. The most important thing JDLQHG ZDV FRQÀ GHQFH µ Her coach agrees. “Mor-
gan works very hard and she wants to win badly and is always seeking perfection,” said National Team Coach Todd Graves. “She’s got great fundamentals and has always had the talent, but she has made some mental mistakes in the past. Her success this year is a result of her overcoming that and maturing. She’s not looking back now though.”
On July 27, 2012, as a freshman at shotgun pow- erhouse Lindenwood Uni- versity, she remembers get- ting this text from teammate Dustin Perry as she watched the 2012 Opening Ceremo- ny in her dorm room that’s proving quite prophetic. “You know what, that’s going to be us in four years.” Becoming an Olympian as she did this season sat- LVÀ HG D OLIHORQJ GUHDP EXW she’s not stopping there. “Getting to the Olympics is what I’ve worked so hard for DQG ,·P H[WUHPHO\ VDWLVÀ HG and excited about the op- portunity,” she says. “Com- peting against the best and being an Olympic medalist would be an extremely big deal. It sets you apart. But
if something doesn’t fall into place and I don’t become a medalist, I will still be satis- À HG %XW WKDW JRDO QRZ LV WR be on top of the podium no doubt.” But for now, this Penn-
sylvania shotgun prodigy is just happy to be living in the moment. Soaking in the airport greeting parties, the requests for appearances and the unbridled support has her feeling more ac- complished than any medal could have. “It leaves me speech- less,” she admits. “You don’t realize how many people are actually behind you. One of the absolute best compli- ments you can ever receive is that people honestly and WUXO\ À QG LQVSLUDWLRQ IURP
you. That’s just amazing. I’m pretty emotional about it just because it really touch- HV PH NQRZLQJ SHRSOH À QG inspiration in me. Knowing I can inspire someone to do their best is mission accom- plished. It’s extremely satis- fying.” Read the rest of this story online on the USA Shoot- ing website at:
http://bit.ly/ mcraftstory.
Year in Review 2015 | USA Shooting News 57
Photo by ISSF
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