Rifle alumnus Matt Rawlings captures silver at Pan-Am Games

Submitted by Jamie Schanback
Phone: (907) 474-6807
07/16/07

Former Alaska Nanook shooter and eight-time first-team All-American Matt Rawlings shot a 694.2 in the men’s 10-meter air rifle finals Sunday to capture a silver medal for Team USA at the 2007 Pan-American Games being held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The three-time NCAA Champion was just shy of teammate Jason Parker who captured the gold medal with 695.8. Elias Orozco of Mexico took the bronze with 690.9.

Rawlings will cheer on his teammate and fellow University of Alaska Fairbanks rifle alumnae, eight-time All-American Jamie Beyerle, in the women’s 50-meter three-position match this Friday. Beyerle will shoot in the preliminary round on July 20 and the finals will be shot the following day.

USA leads the Pan American games with 19 medals, including 10 gold (five men’s, four women’s, one mixed), six silver (two men’s, four women’s) and three bronze medals (two men’s, one women’s). Cuba and Mexico are tied for third place with eight medals each.

The games, which began on July 13 and will run through July 29, feature 5,662 athletes from 42 countries in the Americas.

ON THE WEB: Pan American Games Rio 2007 official site