Gabriela Zych
Sitting in seventh after qualifying, Gabriela Zych of Anchorage zeroed in for the finals and bagged a bronze medal in part one of three at the Rifle Olympic Trials.
She rallied to finish third out of 46 women in the 10-meter air rifle final in Columbus, Georgia.
Zych is a member of the USA Shooting National Futures Teams and a sophomore at the University of Memphis.
“Gabriela shot incredible over the last two days,” her college coach Morgan Phillips said in a press release. “This is a very high-pressure match and she handled it extremely well.”
The Alaskan posted a score of 227.8 in the final, beating the fourth-place finisher by 20 points. The top two finishers were Mary Tucker (252.3) and Sagen Maddalena (251.7).
Zych’s medal earned her bonus points that will carry over to parts two and three of the Olympic Trials.
“To shoot a personal best on one of the biggest stages out there is incredible, but then to finish third in a final among the best shooters in the nation is even more impressive,” Phillips said.
“I’m very proud of her and know this is only the beginning of the national level success that she will have.”
Zych, of Service High fame, earned her spot on the Futures Team based on her third-place junior air rifle finish at the USA Shooting National Championships earlier this month.
This past season at Memphis, Zych earned CRCA All-America honors in air rifle.
Part two of the Rifle Olympic Trials will be in December in Colorado Springs.