February 17, 2014
The following is being distributed at the request of Sport Newfoundland and Labrador:
Newfoundland and Labrador Airgun Shooters Capture Three Medals at 2014 Canadian Airgun Grand Prix
This past weekend seven competitors from this province participated in the 2014 Canadian Airgun Grand Prix at Toronto, Ontario. The Grand Prix, held annually in Toronto in February for Olympic style airgun events, is one of the pre-eminent airgun competitions in Canada and attracts both national and international competitors.
All but one of the Team Newfoundland and Labrador (Team NL) competitors are members of the 2015 Canada Winter Games training group, the exception being the training group’s coach, David Woolridge, who himself has competed both nationally and internationally.
Three medals were won by Team NL including the Grand Championship in Men’s Olympic Air Rifle won by Dave Woolridge following a shoot-off which included two national team shooters, an Olympian and two American shooters. This was the first time in Grand Prix history that someone from this province has claimed this title and a feat made more impressive given that Woolridge had to juggle the roles of both athlete and Team NL coach.
Members of the NL Canada Games training group also claimed two bronze medals: William Dalton in Men’s Sub-Junior Air Rifle with a score of 1146.1 and Emily Keeping in Women’s Sub-Junior Air Pistol scoring 643. Keeping’s teammate Maggie Coady just missed out in the medal ranks with a strong 4th place score of 623.
Other Team NL members also placed well with Tim Rozee claiming 7th with a score of 1071.3 in Men’s Sub-Junior Air Rifle and Daniel Dimitrov, shooting with Atlantic Canada Cadet team, placing 12th in Men’s International Junior Air Rifle with a score of 1126.3. Gabrielle Lahey-Hann, also shooting with the Atlantic Canada Cadet team, fired 569.9 to claim 16th in the Women's Sub-Junior Air Rifle. Lahey-Hann and Dimitrov also had fine scores in the cadet matches with Lahey-Hann's score of 398 ranked her 34th and Dimitrov firing 510 to finish 12th.
Following the competition, Coach Woolridge noted that he was pleased with the performance of the NL Junior Team. All had either personal bests, or personal bests for this competition, and showed technical gains on their second day of competition. In terms of their preparedness, they are on pace with the 2011 Canada Games Winter Team for the upcoming games in 2015.
The Canada Winter Games training group is managed under the auspices of the Newfoundland and Labrador Shooting Association, the provincial affiliate of the Shooting Federation of Canada, the national sports organization for Olympic and International shooting sports in Canada.
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Media contact:David Taylor
Newfoundland and Labrador Shooting Association
Email: NLShootAssociation@gmail.com
Facebook: NL Shooting Association
2014 02 19 3:55 p.m.