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SFC Jason Parker, US Army Marksmanship Unit, was the overall open category aggregate winner of the 2010 Dixie Double Precision Air Rifle Match.
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ANNISTON, ALABAMA – A pair of US Army Marksmanship Unit heavyweights took the top two podium spots in the open category of the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s second annual Dixie Double Precision Air Rifle and Air Pistol Event, but University of Kentucky and USA Shooting’s Ashley Jackson, 22, of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio wasn’t far off the pace.
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Ashley Jackson, a senior at the University of Kentucky and a member of the USA Shooting national development team, placed third in the 2010 Dixie Double air rifle match, open category.
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Despite a calendar crowded with airgun events taking place nationwide and abroad, several of the country’s top air rifle and air pistol shooters brought their talents to the CMP Marksmanship Center and shared their wisdom with junior shooters during the 60-shot-times-two standing event, held Saturday and Sunday, 13 and 14 November.
US Olympian and USAMU International shooter, SFC Jason Parker, 36, dominated the two-day match and AMU teammate SSG Hank Gray, 31, placed second overall. Jackson, a senior at UK, finished third in air rifle. SFC Parker carried his Day I plus final tally of 698.2 into Sunday and backed it up with a near-identical 698.6, giving him 1396 to win the championship.
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SSG Henry “Hank” Gray, took second place overall in the Dixie Double precision air rifle competition. SSG Gray is a member of the US Army Marksmanship Unit.
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SSG Gray finished with 1385 and Jackson scored 1381, topping SSG Gray 103 to 101.1 in the Day II final. In fact, Jackson out-shot both AMU shooters in the 10-shot final on Day 1 as well. Out-of-competition shooters SSG Josh Olson, 31, USAMU, and Mike Dickey, 53, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, who are disabled, shot excellent prone scores of 1398 and 1387, respectively.
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Leah Ewing placed second among junior shooters at this year’s Dixie Double in precision air rifle competition.
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A four-way tie for the seventh and eighth positions in the Day I final was broken in a five-shot shoot-off between Abigail Fong, 22, of New York City, and junior shooters Leah Ewing, 16, of St. Francisville, Louisiana, Christian Hashagen, 18, also of St. Francisville and Samantha Bullard, 15, of Morris, Alabama, who were each tied at 574 after the first 60 shots.
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Christian Hashagen placed first in the junior division on Day I at the 2010 Dixie Double in Anniston, Alabama.
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Fong and Hashagen prevailed in the shoot-off, firing 51 and 50.7, respectively, to knock out Bullard (49.3) and Ewing (46.4) to move into the Day I final. SFC Parker led that final coast to coast, finishing with 102.2.
Hannah Black, 16, of Yorktown, Virginia was the overall high-scoring junior in the event with a two-day aggregate total of 1246. Black was followed by Leah Ewing at 1245.9 and Elizabeth Lee, 16, of Philadelphia, Tennessee, who finished with a 1237.
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Hannah Black was the high scoring junior shooter at the 2010 Dixie Double and placed ninth overall.
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In the air pistol open category, USA Shooting members filled the podium as Stephen “Anthony” Lutz (1350), 22, of Colorado Springs, Will Brown (1333), 18, of Twin Falls, Idaho and Hannah Lewis (1290), 18, of Colorado Springs placed first through third in overall aggregate scoring. Disabled out-of-competition air pistol shooter, Eric Hollen, 45, of Johnson City, Tennessee fired a 1298.
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Stephen “Anthony” Lutz is the 2010 Dixie Double Precision Air Pistol Match open category winner. Lutz is a member of the USA Shooting national development team.
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Brown and Lewis were one and two in the air pistol junior category as well and Jacob Hall, 20, of Carrollton, Georgia placed third with a two-day aggregate score of 1260 and Hannah Burnett, 18, of Paducah, Kentucky, placed fourth with an overall total of 1207.
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Will Brown was high junior and second overall in the 2010 Dixie Double precision air pistol match.
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In team air rifle shooting, Team Whatever, comprised of Austin Litherland (1153), 21, of Cookeville, Tennessee and Leah Ewing (1150) scored an aggregate of 2303. The air pistol team of Anthony Lutz (1154) and Jacob Hall (1069), The Pelletheads, combined to fire an aggregate score of 2223.
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SSG Hank Gray explains the importance of physical and mental preparedness in shooting as part of a shooters’ clinic following Day I of the Dixie Double Precision Air Rifle and Pistol Event.
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At the conclusion of shooting and barbecue luncheon on Day I, SFC Jason Parker and his USAMU teammates conducted a shooters clinic at the CMP training center adjacent to the range.
SFC Parker was joined by SSG Gray, Sgt Olson and 1Lt Chris Abalo, 24, who discussed a variety of topics ranging from physical and mental training to developing good practice habits and strategies for winning in match competition. Each team member offered their own suggestions for improvement and answered a variety of questions throughout the program.
Four junior shooters picked up valuable finals experience at this year’s Dixie Double, including Christian Hashagen who fired a 97.3 final, compiling a 671.3 aggregate total on Day I, placing him ninth overall. He was followed in the junior ranks by Elizabeth Lee who fired a 94.9 and 670.9 for 10th place on the first day of shooting.
On Day II, Hannah Black shot a 97 in the final, giving her a 673 and Leah Ewing scored a 95.9 on Sunday for a second day total of 671.
Here’s how the top 10 juniors finished in air rifle at the 2010 Dixie Double:
Hannah Black 1246.0
Leah Ewing 1245.9
Elizabeth Lee 1237.9
Christian Hashagen 1229.3
Samantha Bullard 1149
Elijah Ellis 1145
Adam Grumbling 1134-47
Quintin Wotring 1134-45
Casadie Bragg 1133
Joshua Black 1132
For complete results of the Dixie Double event in Anniston, Alabama log onto
http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=6204.
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