|
Accokeek, MD -- Beretta is pleased to announce that Team Beretta skeet athletes achieved two gold medals at the recent 2023 USA Shooting Shotgun National Championship held at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, MI.
Team Beretta athletes in attendance at the USA Shooting Shotgun Nationals included Vincent Hancock, Austen Smith, Kimberly Rhode, and Caitlin Connor.
Hancock finished in third place for the Open Men’s Skeet event with an exceptional final score of 246 out of 250 targets going into the finals, where he beat out fellow competitor Conner Prince by one target. Following that outstanding performance, he went onto a sudden death shoot-off with Prince to determine the overall winner and walked away with the gold medal.
With his performance at this match, Hancock was named to the 2023 Open Men’s Skeet National Team and selected to compete at the 2023 Pan American Games in Chile and the 2023 ISSF World Championship in Baku. Hancock also achieved one other gold medal this year with a win at the 2023 Spring Selection Match in Tucson, AZ, as well as an individual silver medal and a mixed team gold medal (with teammate Kim Rhode) at the 2023 ISSF World Cup in Qatar.
Smith was first place for the Open Women’s Skeet event with a great score of 242 out of 250 targets going into the finals, where she beat out all other competitors for the gold medal. With this golden performance, Smith was named to the 2023 Open Women’s Skeet National Team and selected to compete at the 2023 Pan American Games in Chile and the ISSF World Championship in Baku.
Rhode and Connor both finished the match in the top ten and were selected for the 2023 Open Women’s Skeet National Team. Rhode started the year with two gold medal performances at the 2023 ISSF World Cup in Rabat, Morocco, and the 2023 Spring Selection Match in Tucson.
All Team Beretta Olympic athletes compete with the popular DT11 over-and-under shotgun platform. The DT11 series of shotguns was developed for the demanding requirements of the professional clay target shooter. Built with a single-minded pursuit to win, the DT11 platform is truly professional grade and features a detachable trigger assembly and proprietary Steelium Pro barrels.
Team Beretta athletes will continue their season at the 2023 ISSF World Cup in Lonato, Italy, from July 8-17, 2023.
Team Beretta, founded in the early 1980s, is a team of professional shooters of various ages and experiences that compete as Brand Ambassadors for Beretta USA in the fields of trap, skeet, sporting clay, pistol, 3-gun, and precision long-range competitive shooting. Since 1977, Beretta has led the way in all forms of competitive shooting sports and continues to strive for excellence. During the 2016 Olympic Games, Team Beretta shooters took ten out of the possible fifteen podiums in trap, double trap, and skeet shooting events. Team Beretta competes not only at the highest professional levels as well as national and regional competitions, but our shooters also mentor and train future competitors. Team Beretta athletes brought home five out of the six possible medals in the men's and women's skeet events at the recent 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, with one gold (Vincent Hancock), two silvers (Diana Bacosi and Jesper Hansen), and two bronzes (Wei Meng and Abdullah Al-Rashidi).
Beretta, established in 1526, is the longest-standing industrial dynasty in the world, tracing its roots through 15 generations of continuous family ownership. Firearms bearing the Beretta name have been sold for almost 500 years. Beretta USA Corp. was founded in 1977 and provided the most widely deployed sidearm throughout the U.S. Armed Forces. Today, Beretta manufactures, distributes, and markets a complete line of firearms, accessories, and apparel. Beretta also owns and operates six retail Beretta Gallery stores worldwide. For additional information, visit www.Beretta.com.