Rhode and McGrath Take Home National Championship Titles in Skeet

(photo at left is of Jon Michael McGarth from http://jonmichaelmcgrath.com)


COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO (July 21, 2008) The Men’s and Women’s Skeet finals concluded the final day of competition at the 2008 USA Shooting National Championships for Shotgun with Jon Michael McGrath and Kim Rhode capturing national titles.

McGrath (Tulsa, Okla), Frank Thompson (Alliance, Neb.) and Scott Schroeder (Niceville, Fla.) all finished the Men’s Open final tied at 310 targets. In an exciting shoot-off, McGrath shot 18 targets to Thompson’s 17 and Schroeder’s five to take home the title. Thompson claimed second place, while Schroeder took third. Allen Treadwell (Seligman, Mo.) and BJ Blanchard (Vidor, Texas) each ended the final with a score of 305 targets. Treadwell took fourth place after shooting 14 targets in the shoot-off, while Blanchard shot 13. U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU) member and 2004 Olympian Shawn Dulohery (Lee’s Summit, Mo.) finished in sixth place with 302 targets.

In the Junior Men’s Skeet event, Thompson captured the national title with a total score of 310 targets. Blanchard took second with 304, while Thomas Bayer (College Station, Texas) finished in third place after shooting a perfect score of 25 in the final and a total score of 300 targets. Chris Haver (Clinton, Mich.) took fourth place with 288 targets. Having already won the Men’s Open title, McGrath chose not to shoot the junior final, which placed him fifth in the junior category with a score of 287 targets. Nick Kimbrough (Atlanta, Ga.) finished in sixth place with 286 targets.

Last year’s national champion in Women’s Skeet, Rhode (El Monte, Calif.), a three-time Olympic medalist (1996 and 2004 gold medalist, 2000 bronze medalist) in Women’s Double Trap won her second consecutive national title in Women’s Skeet, finishing the event with 306 targets. Rhode will be representing the U.S. on her fourth Olympic team in Beijing next month.

Brandie Neal (Spencer, Ind.) claimed second place for the Skeet women with a final score of 25 targets and an overall score of 302 targets. Ali Chiang (Redwood Shores, Calif.) took third place with 293 targets. Amber English (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Caitlin Connor (Winnfield, La.) and Shari LeGate (Peyton, Colo.) finished in fourth, fifth and sixth places with overall scores of 292, 288 and 285 targets respectively.

Chiang earned the national title for the Junior Skeet Women with a score of 294 targets. English took second with 292 and Connor finished third with 291. Jaiden Grinnell (Port Angeles, Wash.) finished in fourth place with 281 targets, while Sally Coggins (Bogart, Ga.) and Brandy Drozd (Bryan, Texas) took fifth and sixth places with 274 and 256 targets respectively.

Complete Shotgun National Championship results can be found by visiting www.usashooting.org