When 17-year-old Travis Mears stepped to the awards stand to receive the gold medal he earned in Saturday night's ESPN Outdoor Games shotgun competition, he looked like he'd been there before. And he had, if only in his mind.
Shotgun gold to Texas teen
Seventeen-year-old Travis Mears of Burleson, Texas, became the youngest shooter to ever win a gold medal in target sports at the ESPN Great Outdoor Games when he won a dramatic triple-overtime shoot-off Saturday with veteran Robbie Purser of Macon, Ga.
Young guns shoot to top
Clay targets weren't the only things blown away during the opening round of the Shotgun event. Along with the orange targets cast to the wayside are some of the top shooters in the nation, the old dogs if you will. All of them shot down by the young guns.
Top shots thrive on pressure
For many folks, high-stress situations jumble thoughts and short-circuit performance, leaving them shaken and defeated. Yet the top shots and reigning champs of the archery, rifle and shotgun events crave the pressure greeting them at the shooting line.
Target qualifiers to air May 8 on ESPN2
Shooting and archery athletes battled rain, wind and cold last weekend and two of them marked perfect scores en route to earning a berth in this summer's ESPN Great Outdoor Games V.
Vegas hosts Games Target qualifier
In the late 1920s thousands flocked to Nevada in hopes of finding jobs with the federal government. More than 80 years later hundreds of competitive shooters will converge on the same area with hopes of finding a spot in the Great Outdoor Games.
Vegas shotgun qualifier final
Doctor bills being what they are these days, Richard Aitken's ophthalmologist has probably been well compensated for the cataract surgery he performed Oct. 29.
