News & Current Events

News & Current Events

Olympic Selection Results:
http://www.usashooting.org/viewRelease.php?id=114
KERRVILLE, Texas (March 16, 2008)

"... In Women’s Skeet, three-time Olympic medalist (1996 and 2004 gold medalist, 2000 bronze medalist) Kim Rhode (El Monte, Calif.) earned a spot on her fourth consecutive U.S. Olympic Team, finishing with a total score of 497 targets. Pan American Games gold medalist Haley Dunn (Eddyville, Iowa) finished right behind Rhode in second place with 496 targets. Two-time Olympian Connie Smotek (Bryan, Texas) took third place with 493 targets. Emily Blount (Tucson, Ariz.), the 2007 Junior World Clay Target Champion, finished in fourth place with 471 targets, while Brandie Neal (Spencer, Ind.) and Jaiden Grinnell (Port Angeles, Wash.) finished in fifth and sixth place with 467 and 461 targets respectively."

Emily Claims Gold
COLORADO SPRINGS , Colo. (September 5, 2007)

The Women’s Skeet event was held today at the 2007 World Clay Target Championships with Emily Blount ( Tucson , Ariz. ) claiming a gold medal for the junior women and both the junior and open women taking home silver in the team event.

Blount, who was the 2006 World Shooting Champion in Junior Women’s Skeet, took the gold today after finishing with a total score of 70 targets and a shoot off with Slovakia ’s Monika Zemkova.

Jaiden Grinnell ( Port Angeles , Wash. ) finished in 9th place for the Junior Skeet Women with 64 targets and Sally Coggins ( Bogart , Ga. ) took 11th place with 62 targets.

Three-time Olympic medalist (1996 and 2004 gold, 2000 bronze) Kim Rhode ( El Monte , Calif. ) ended the qualification tied with three other competitors at 71 targets and won a shoot off to get into the finals. Haley Dunn ( Eddyville , Iowa ), a 2007 Pan American Games Gold Medalist, entered the finals in fourth place with a score of 72 targets and finished the competition in fourth place with a total of 95. Rhode took sixth place with 94 targets. Two-time Olympian Connie Smotek ( Bryan , Texas ) finished in 21st place with a total of 67.

Germany ’s Christine Brinkler won the gold with a score of 98, while Ning Wei of China took the silver with 97 and Italy ’s Chiara Cainero claimed the bronze with a final score of 96 targets.

In the team competition, Dunn, Rhode and Smotek grabbed the silver medal for the U.S. with a score of 210. China claimed the gold with 214 and Italy took the bronze with 204. Blount, Grinnell and Coggins took the silver for the junior women with a score of 196, while Russia won the gold with 198 and the team from Cyprus took the bronze with 179.

Thirty shotgun shooters are representing the U.S. this week at the 2007 World Clay Target Championships. The event is taking take place at the Nicosia Olympic Shooting Range, in the area of Latsia, on the outskirts of Nicosia , Cyprus and runs through September 9.

For complete results throughout the World Clay Target Championships, please visit USA Shooting

Shooting For the Olympics
Ex-UA student junior champion skeet shooter
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/sports/76681.php
BRYAN LEE, Tucson Citizen

"What does Emily Blount do in her leisure time?
She loves numbers, so maybe she is taking up where Einstein left off. She has been a 4.0 student so maybe it's the Great American Novel. She is preparing for an electrical engineering career, so maybe she's designing a better iPod. But actually, her leisure time is spent skeet shooting in hopes of making the Olympics. She is a two-time junior world champion. She spends her time .."

AZ Game and Fish article "She's Aiming High"
http://www.azgfd.gov/i_e/pubs/ShesAimingHigh.shtml
by Julie Hammonds

“All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible.” ~Orison Swett Marden
...Many people have an Olympic dream. Emily Blount certainly has one. She’s visualized it so often that every detail leaps immediately to her mind. “I’m standing on the medal stand listening to the national anthem as our flag is raised, with a heavy gold medal around my neck, tears in my eyes and flowers in my arms.” If you ask her, she could probably tell you what kind of blooms adorn the bouquet..."

Many people have an Olympic dream. Emily Blount certainly has one. She’s visualized it so often that every detail leaps immediately to her mind. “I’m standing on the medal stand listening to the national anthem as our flag is raised, with a heavy gold medal around my neck, tears in my eyes and flowers in my arms.” If you ask her, she could probably tell you what kind of blooms adorn the bouquet

A Gun and a Girl
http://current.com/items/86663101_a_gun_and_a_girl

These girls may look young and harmless but underneath their teenage skin is a passion for shooting guns. Take a look at the emerging scene of young female gun enthusiasts that are changing the face of a predominantly male dominated sport.

"For the past several years I have volunteered for the AZ Game and Fish to do shooting demonstrations for their Outdoor Expo at Ben Avery Shooting Club near Phoenix. This is the program for the Expo. I encourage you to check out the Expo!" ~Emily

2008 Expo - 2007 Expo

Shotgun Junior Olympics Conclude with Thompson and Blount Taking Home Skeet Titles
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (September 24, 2007) The 2007 Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) and USA Shooting Junior Olympic National Championships concluded on Saturday with Frank Thompson and Emily Blount taking titles in the Skeet event. The 14th annual Shotgun Junior Olympics were held September 15-22 at the International Shooting Park at Fort Carson Military Reservation. Thompson took first place in Men’s Skeet with a total of 143 targets. Jon McGrath finished second with 140 and Thomas Bayer took third with a final score of 138 targets. Blount, the 2007 World Clay Target Champion in Junior Women’s Skeet, took first place at the Junior Olympics with a final score of 137 targets. Caitlin Connor finished second with 128, while Amber English finished right behind in third place with 127 targets. Other top finishers in the Skeet Event include: Junior Men J2 First Place – Nick Kimbrough, 112 J2 Second Place – Thomas Coggins, 110 J2 Third Place – Dillon McCartney, 107 J3 First Place – Roy Chavalitlekha, 94 J3 Second Place – Nash Porter, 88 J3 Third Place – Luke Daffern, 72/p> Junior Women J2 First Place – Jaiden Grinnell, 100 J2 Second Place – Hannah Lummus, 85 J2 Third Place – Michelle Wampler, 83 J3 First Place – Brandy Drozd, 78 SCTP Individual Varsity 1st – Dillon McCartney, 129 2nd – Brisden Eaton, 126 3rd – Chris Haver, 126 High Female - Caitlin Connor, 106 Female Runner-up – Brielle Eaton, 81 High Male – Nick Kimbrough, 137 Male Runner-up – Thomas Coggins, 133 For complete SCTP and USA Shooting Junior Olympic National Championship results, please click here.
	Sept 25, 2007

Emily Blount is a world ranked competition skeet shooter, on her way to the olympics. She makes magic with a Perazzi 12 guage, and is an intelligent and enthusiastic electrical engineering student at the U of A. What a delightful and informative 49 minutes, some humor.

Emily Blount Competition Trap 49min 35 sec
Listen to the Interview on . mp3 file

Emily Blount

US national shotgun team member Emily Blount
shooting a USAShooting Barbara Mandrell LP1 air pistol
under the supervision of
US national pistol team member John Zurek

http://arizona.rifleshooting.com/olympic.html