RENO, Nev. — The beast beat the beauty in the opening round of the shotgun competition at ESPN's Great Outdoor games Thursday night.

	Tre Sides had to shoot his best to get past the only female in the shotgun event and move on to the quarterfinals.

In a match worthy of the gold medal round, 38-year-old Tre Sides edged 18-year-old Jamie Riggs in a third tiebreaker round to advance to Friday's quarterfinals.

Sides, a Montgomery, Ala., resident and last year's shotgun silver medalist, quickly realized most of the large crowd assembled at Rancho San Rafael Park was rooting for the young blonde girl from Franklin, Tenn., and not him.

"That's as brutal as it gets," said Sides. "As soon as I walked out there, I was the bad guy. I could have shot 20 straight targets from the hip and I would have still been the bad guy."

Sides better get used to it. In only two months, he and Riggs have demonstrated the makings of a legendary rivalry.

At the Alabama state championships earlier this spring, Sides, the seven-time Alabama state champion and the 1997 National Sporting Clays champion, beat Riggs by a single target in a tiebreaker that lasted several rounds.

It was a match similar to Thursday night's round, where neither competitor gave an inch.

Neither Sides nor Riggs could believe it when they drew each other in the opening round of the 16-competitor field Thursday night.

"I was hoping she would skin up some of these other guys," Sides said. "Several of them said, 'Oh, you drew the girl.' I said, 'You can have her.' I knew how good she could shoot and I knew it would help me if she beat some of these other guys.

"And I also knew that if I made the medal round, she'd be right there with me."

	Though the crowd was rooting for her, 18-year-old Jamie Riggs was edged out in a third tiebreaker round Thursday.

Riggs may have had the crowd on her side, but that's pressure too. The fact that she is the only female in the field and a pretty new face in the sport made her the subject of much attention.

"I tried not to let it bother me, but I was just generally nervous," said Riggs.

But it didn't show in her shooting. Riggs and Sides finished in a tie by hitting 18 of the initial 20 targets. In the tiebreaker system, each competitor gets another five targets. Plus the odds are stacked against them, as the time between each target is reduced a half-second.

Sides and Riggs broke four targets each in the first tiebreaker and five each in the second tiebreaker. Sides posted another five in the third tiebreaker, which Riggs couldn't match.

"That's as good as it gets," said Sides. "That girl's from the south. She can sure draw up some (shotgun) shells."

In other first round highlights, Scott Robertson of Flower Mound, Texas, posted the only perfect score (20) of the night. Others advancing to the quarterfinals included Robbie Purser of Macon, Ga., last year's gold medalist; Albert Bogetti of Vernalis, Calif.; Jeff Vick of Northport, Ala.; Brett Dorak of Sobieski, Wis.; Travis Mears of Burleson, Tex.; and Justin Huckabay of Kingsland, Tex.

First Round Results
1a. Robbie Purser, Macon, Georgia, defeated Jackie Caudle, Gadsden, Ala., 18-14.
1b. Albert Bogetti, Vernalis, Calif., defeated Richard Aitken, Colorado Springs, Colo., 17-16.
1c. Scott Robertson, Flower Mound, Texas, defeated Jim Crouse, Reno, Nev., 20-14.
1d. Jeff Vick, Northport, Ala., defeated Doug Koenig, Alburtis, Pa., 17-15.
1e. Tre Sides, Montgomery, Ala., defeated Jamie Riggs, Franklin, Tenn., in three elimination rounds after tying 18-18. Sides won the third elimination round 5-3.
1f. Brett Dorak, Sobieski, Wis., defeated Kraig Magnussen, Modesto, Calif., 18-15.
1g. Travis Mears, Burleson, Texas, defeated Bobby Fowler, Houston, Texas, in the first elimination round, 5-3, after tying 17-17.
1h. Justin Huckabay, Kingsland, Texas, defeated David McHugh, Lakeville, Conn., 18-14.