(GunReports.com) – The U.S. Practical Shooting Association (USPSA) released the roster of shooters that will represent the United States as Team USA at the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) World Shoot XVI to be held this October in Rhodes, Greece.
A total of 44 shooters will compete under the national banner on 11 squads in the Open, Standard, Modified, Production and Revolver divisions. In addition to the official team, there will be up to 55 shooters competing independently from the United States.
“This is without a doubt one of our strongest national teams we’ve ever fielded to compete in the World Shoot” said USPSA President Michael Voigt. “We had such a tremendous response from shooters wanting to represent the United States in Greece that we expanded the number of official squads to 11.”
The largest contingent of U.S. shooters will in the Open division where Team USA will have four squads competing. On the men’s team will be K.C. Eusebio of GA, the current USPSA National Champion, Max Michel of Covington, La., the 2009 National Champion, Chris Tilley of Raleigh, N.C., the 2008 National Champion and J.J. Racaza of New Milford, N.J.
The ladies team will feature the four women who have held the USPSA National Championship since 2006. Rebecca Jones of Hopewell, Va. is the current and 2009 National Champion. Megan Francisco of Gainesville, Va. is the 2010 National Champion, Athena Lee of Katy, Texas won the title in 2007 while Kay Miculek of Princeton, La. took the title in 2006.
In the Juniors Open category where American shooters have traditionally dominated, Team USA will consist of Blake Manning of Franklinton, La., PVT Shane Coley of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit at Fort Benning, Ga., Nicholas Neel of Plano, Texas and Ben Thompson of Stewartstown, Pa., the 2010 Junior National Champion.
Rounding out the Open division squads is the seniors team consisting of Johnny Brister of Rosedale, Miss., Bernie McHugh of Monroe, La., Mike Pelissier of Huntington Beach, Calif. and Brian Smith of Gallatin, Tenn.
In the Standard division, the international equivalent of the Limited division within USPSA, Team USA will field three squads. The Standard division men’s team will be made up of Emanuel Bragg of Kirksville, Mo., Taran Butler of Simi Valley, Calif., Blake Miguez of New Iberia, La., and the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit’s SSG Travis Tomasie of Kirkland, Wash. who is the 2010 Limited-10 National Champion.
The ladies Standard team will consist of Lisa Munson of Marysville Wash., the 2007 and 2006 Limited National Champion, junior standout Tori Nonaka of Woodbridge, Va., Carina Burns Randolph of Richardson, Texas and Randi Rogers of Smyrna, Ga., the 2010 and 2009 Limited-10 National Champion.
The third U.S. Standard division squad is the seniors team of Paul Clark Sr. of Littleton, Colo., Steve Miguez of New Iberia, La., Robert Novak of East Hampton, N.Y. and Mark Quinn of St. Louis, Mo.
Competing in the Production division will be the men’s team of Matt Mink of Conway, Ark., Ben Stoeger of Eau Claire, Wis., Phil Strader of Owasso, Okla. and Robert Vogel of Wapakoneta, Ohio, the 2009 and 2008 National Champion.
The ladies representing USPSA in the Production division Julie Golob of Glasgow, Mont., the 2006 and 2005 National Champion, Tasha Hanish of Phoenix, Ariz., the 2010 and 2009 MultiGun Tactical National Champion, Kippi Leatham of Mesa, Ariz. and Maggie Reese of Chino, Calif., the 2010 and 2009 MultiGun Open National Champion.
The Team USA squad competing in IPSC’s Modified division, will consist of Barry Dueck of Fountain Valley, Calif., Rob Leatham of Mesa, Ariz., Jojo Vidanes of Norco, Calif. and Michael Voigt of Chino, Calif.
Rounding out the official U.S. line-up will be the Revolver division squad of Mike Carmoney of Mitchellville, Iowa, Jerry Miculek of Princeton, La., who’s won the national title nine times since 2001, Patrick Sweeney of Ann Arbor, Mich. and Cliff Walsh of St. Petersburg, Fla., the 2009 Revolver National Champion.
At the last World Shoot, held in 2008 in Bali, Indonesia, the United States won six team and four individual gold medals, and expectations are high for this year’s championship according to Voigt.
“After 2008’s outstanding performance by Team USA, expectations are running high for this year’s competition. We’re going into the World Shoot with a wealth of both talent and international competition experience, the combination of which usually yields winning results. And that’s what we’ve come to expect from our shooters,” explained Voigt.
The IPSC World Shoot is the largest international gathering of top level pistol shooters and is held every three years. While the final number of shooters from the U.S. that will be attending the match is not yet known, Americans are the largest contingent of competitors at the event an usually account for 10-12% of all competitors.
For more information on the U.S. Practical Shooting Association visit www.USPSA.org.
