COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (June 13, 2019)
Seven U.S. Pistol athletes, including four Olympians, have earned the opportunity to compete for Team USA at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. The XVIII Pan American Games will be contested July 26 – August 11 and will feature over 6,500 athletes from 41 nations.
Athletes were determined based on results of the 2019 Spring Selection Match that took place March 25-30 in Fort Benning, Georgia.
Previously earning quotas by winning the 2018 Championship of the Americas was Alexis Lagan (Boulder City, Nevada) and James Hall (Colombia, Missouri) in Women’s Sport Pistol and Men’s Air Pistol. Given that there are still quotas needing to be obtained in each of those events, Lagan and Hall both declined their invitation to participate, freeing up spots for their teammates to go and try to earn a quota. Lagan won Spring Selection while Hall was second. Earlier this year, Henry Leverett (Bainbridge, Georgia) earned a quota in Men’s Rapid Fire Pistol after a fifth-place finish at a World Cup in Beijing, China. He finished second at the Spring Selection Match, but would give up his spot after the achievement.
The Pan American Games will be a critically important match to a pistol program eager to prove itself with a mix of young and proven talent. In search of five Olympic quotas, Team USA will include three-time Olympian Keith Sanderson (Colorado Springs, Colorado) competing in Rapid Fire Pistol, 2016 Olympian Jay Shi (Phoenix, Arizona) competing in Men’s Air Pistol, and 2012 Olympians Nick Mowrer (Butte, Montana) and Sandra Uptagrafft (Phenix City, Alabama) competing in Men’s Air Pistol and Women’s Sport Pistol respectively.
Joining this veteran squad is
