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Burrows second at first Olympic trials match

Has four-shot lead for 2020 Olympics berth

Two Americans will compete in men’s trap shooting at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, and 2007 Fallbrook High School graduate Brian Burrows holds a four-shot lead for the second berth.

Burrows finished second in the first Olympic trials match Sept. 10-13 in Kerrville, Texas. His score will carry over to the second and final Olympic trials match in Tucson at the end of February and beginning of March.

“Very thankful for being able to shoot as well as I did,” Burrows said. “I just look forward to February.”

The initial rounds consisted of 250 targets. Burrows hit 236 of his 250 targets.

The shooters had 75 targets apiece Sept. 10. Burrows made 68 of his shots.

“I shot two decent rounds,” he said.

The rounds are 25 targets each. Burrows began the day with rounds of 24 and 23 hits, but the third round was where he missed four of his Sept. 10 targets.

“I didn’t shoot very well at all,” he said. “The next day I came back a little bit and shot a fairly decent round. That kept me in there.”

The Sept. 11 portion of the competition consisted of 50 targets, and Burrows had 47 hits. He hit 24 of his first 25 targets and 23 of his next 25 shots.

Each shooter had 75 targets Sept. 12. Burrows shot 73 of those.

“It kind of boosted me up closer to the lead,” he said.

Burrows hit all 25 of his targets during the first round Sept. 12 and had 24 hits in the each of other two rounds that day.

“I was fairly consistent the third day,” he said.

The Sept. 13 shooting involved two rounds of 25 targets apiece. Burrows hit 48 of his 50 shots as he was successful on 24 targets each round.

Derrick Mein, who lives in the eastern Kansas town of Paola, hit 240 of his 250 targets during the initial rounds.

“He had a great match,” Burrows said.

Burrows and Derek Haldeman, who is originally from Ohio and is currently a member of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit based at Fort Benning in Georgia, were the two American men who competed in trap shooting at the Pan-American Games in Lima, Peru, July 29-31. Men’s trap shooting has a quota formula for the Olympics, and the nations with the gold and silver medals at the Pan-American Games qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games. Burrows won the gold medal and Haldeman took home the silver medal, thus qualifying two American men for the 2020 Olympics. The Americans also took the top two positions in mixed trap at the Pan-American Games; Haldeman and Ashley Carroll won the gold medal while Burrows and Rachel Tozier were the silver medalists.

Haldeman was 17th in the Olympic trials match after the 10 rounds.

“Derek did not have a very good match,” Burrows said. “He didn’t make the final.”

Haldeman’s score of 220 at Kerrville will carry over to the Tucson match, so he is not eliminated from the 2020 Olympics but would have to move up 15 positions. The Olympics mixed trap event does not utilize a quota formula, so Haldeman still might compete in that event in Tokyo.

The top six shooters after the 10 rounds competed in the finals Sept. 13. The finals began with 25 targets and the subsequent rounds were five targets apiece. The shooter with the lowest score dropped out after each round.

Burrows placed fourth in the finals.

“I wasn’t consistent,” he said. “I’ve definitely had better finals.”

The same finals elimination format was used in the Pan-American Games where Burrows placed first, although hits from the previous rounds were carried over in the Pan-American Games finals. The Olympic trials finals did not carry over the previous scores.

“It was a tough final,” Burrows said.

Burrows hit 29 of his 35 targets in the finals.

“It was definitely a battle,” he said. “I was fortunate enough to get fourth.”

The finals provided bonus points only for the first, second and third shooters. Burrows placed fourth and did not receive any bonus points. Mein also finished first in the final and added three bonus points, giving him 243 to carry over to the second match.

Alex Rennert, who is now with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit at Fort Benning and is originally from Florida, was third in the final and added one bonus point to his score. He will enter the Tucson match with 232 points.

“He shot well in the final,” Burrows said.

Rennert made 34 of his 40 shots before being eliminated.

Even without any bonus points, Burrows was still second at the end of the first Olympic trials match.

“Top two was my goal,” he said. “I feel pretty good about it. I felt that it was a good match.”

The Olympic trials match in Tucson will begin Feb. 28 and conclude March 2.

“I look forward to the next one,” Burrows said. “I’ll still have to shoot very hard, but it’s nice to go in with a little bit of a lead,” Burrows said. “I’m so thankful to all of my family and friends for all their support and all the opportunities God’s given me, and I hope I can shoot well at the last match.”

Author Bio

Joe Naiman, Writer

Joe Naiman has been writing for the Village News since 2001

 

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