Ole Miss Rifle Alum Goes for Gold at 2019 Pan American Games

Former Ole Miss Rebel Alison Weisz, brought home sliver in the air rifle competition. Photo courtesy of Ole Miss Sports

Fresh off a national title and victories in Spring Selection matches, Ole Miss Rifle alum Ali Weisz will go for gold for Team USA this week at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

Weisz will compete in the Women’s 10-Meter Air Rifle competition Thursday at 9 a.m. CT with a final scheduled for 11:30 a.m. She will conclude the week in the 10-Meter Air Rifle Mixed Team event Saturday at 9 a.m. and conclude with a final at 11 a.m.

The XVIII Pan American Games began July 26 and will be contested through Aug. 11 with more than 6,500 athletes from 41 nations in North and South America. A total of 61 sporting disciplines will be contested and serve as qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Shooting sports consist of rifle, pistol, and shotgun (skeet and trap) at Las Palmas Air Base. Live stats, schedule and results can be found at https://www.lima2019.pe/en/results.

Weisz, a 2017 Ole Miss graduate and two-time All-American, secured her spot with two first-place performances in March Spring Selection matches. She followed that up with her second Air Rifle national title at the Rifle/Pistol National Championships in June.     

The Belgrade, Montana native also competed in International Shooting Sport Federation Rifle World Cup matches. She teamed up with Tim Sherry of Colorado for fourth place in Mixed Air Rifle in Beijing, China. The pair will reunite in Mixed Team donning red, white and blue in Peru. 

The U.S. Shooting Team earned 13 medals (four gold, six silver, three bronze) at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada.

USA Shooting Team athletes are presently Quota hunting, with two final competitions available to earn the all-important Olympic quotas including the Pan American Games and the season’s final World Cup stops, August 13-23 in Lahti, Finland for Shotgun, and August 26-September 3 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for Rifle/Pistol. 

Top-two finishes in any of these events earns a Quota and placement could be lower if higher-placed competitors have already earned a Quota for their country. Athletes previously had the opportunity to earn Quotas at the 2018 World Championships, 2018 Championship of the Americas and earlier 2019 World Cups.

An Olympic quota is essentially a country’s ticket to participate in a specific event in the 2020 Olympic Games, 10 of which are available in Peru. Earning an Olympic quota in competition ensures the country a spot in that event, not necessarily the athlete.

2019 U.S. Pan American Games Rifle Team 

Women’s Air Rifle

Mindy Miles (Weatherford, Texas)

Ali Weisz (Belgrade, Montana)

Women’s Three-Position Rifle

Sarah Beard (USAMU/Danville, Indiana)

Ginny Thrasher (Springfield, Virginia)
 

Men’s Air Rifle

Tim Sherry (USAMU/Highlands Ranch, Colorado)
Lucas Kozeniesky (Fairfax, Virginia)
 

Men’s Three-Position Rifle

Michael McPhail (USAMU/Darlington, Wisconsin)

Tim Sherry (USAMU/Colorado Springs, Colorado)
 

Mixed Team Air Rifle

Ali Weisz / Tim Sherry

Mindy Miles / Lucas Kozeniesky 

Hottytoddy.com Staff Report