State Links To London Olympics: Shooting

Sportspress Northwest offers another in a series of biographical sketches of athletes with significant ties to Washington in the Olympic Games.

Lance Bade (Vancouver) is the most recent Washingtonian to win a shooting medal (1996 Atlanta). Washington will be represented by two shooters in London.

2012 SHOOTING OLYMPIANS

AMANDA FURRER / Mead High School

BORN: Jan. 17, 1991, Spokane. RESIDENCE: Columbus, OH. SPORT: Rifle. EVENT: Women’s 50m rifle, three position. COUNTRY: USA. OLYMPICS (1st): 2012. HOW QUALIFIED: Won her competition at the Olympic Trials at Fort Benning, GA. in June. STATE CONNECTION: Spokane native, 2009 graduate of Mead High School.

Furrer started shooting at 11 as member of the Spokane Junior Rifle Team. Her sister, Lauren, was involved in shooting sports and Amanda wanted to be just like her. Shooting is a family sport and all compete together. Furrer’s dad shoots tactical matches and her mom shoots pistols. Furrer first qualified for the national team as a member of the 2007 Pan American roster at 16.

OLYMPICS: Alternate on the USA Shooting team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

CAREER: Won the bronze medal at the 2011 National Championships . . . Gold at the 2011 Spring Selection . . . Team gold at the 2010 World Championships . . . Finished sixth at the 2010 Championship of the Americas . . . Gold at the 2010 Junior Olympic Championships . . . Bronze at the 2009 Spring Selection . . . Silver at the 2009 Junior Olympic Championships . . . Gold at the Junior International Hopes match . . . Bronze medal at the Pan American Games . . . Gold at the Junior International Hopes Match.

PERSONAL: Currently a student in Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University . . . Majoring in finance and competing on the school’s rifle team . . . Enjoys anything outdoors . . . Loves to dance . . . Has worked as a barista at Starbucks.

ERIC UPTAGRAFFT/ Spokane

BORN: Feb. 16, 1966, Spokane. RESIDENCE: Phenix City, AL. SPORT: Rifle. EVENT: 50m Rifle Prone. COUNTRY: USA. OLYMPICS (2nd): 1996, 2012. HOW QUALIFIED: Olympic Trials at Fort Benning, GA. in June. STATE CONNECTION: Spokane native.

Army Sgt. First Class Eric Uptagrafft began his shooting career at 11. He joined the Foresteen Jr. Rifle Club in Spokane, where he was coached  by Bill Havercroft. In 1993, Eric made the National Development Team and  two years later made the National Team. Eric graduated from West Virginia University in 1995 with a bachelor of science in aerospace engineering.  Eric has been a member of the National Team for nearly 20 years.

OLYMPICS: Finished 30th in prone at the 1996 Olympic Games.

CAREER — 2012: World Cup London, sixth place . . . World Cup Milan, fifth place. 2011: World Cup Final Wroclaw, Silver Medal (Prone) . . . World Cup Changwon, Silver Medal (Prone) . . . World Cup USA, fifth place (Prone) . . . World Cup Sydney, Silver Medal (Prone).  2010: World Championship, seventh place (Prone), Team Gold Medal . . . World Cup USA, Silver Medal (Prone) . . . World Cup Sydney, sixth place (Prone) . . . World Cup Beijing, Bronze Medal (Prone).  2009: World Cup Beijing, fifth place (Prone). 2006: World Championship, Team Gold Medal (Prone). 2003: Pan American Games, Silver Medal (3 Position).  2002: World Championship, Silver Medal (3 Position). 2001: Championship of the Americas, Silver Medalist (Prone), Bronze (Air).

PERSONAL: Married to National Pistol Team member Sandra Uptagrafft . . . Was deployed to Kuwait in January 2007 for seven months . . . Member of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit . . . In the summer of 2011 deployed to Afghanistan.

SHOOTING MEDALS BY WASHINGTONIANS

GOLD: Matt Dryke (Sequim), skeet, 1984 Los Angeles; Launi Meili (Cheney), women’s small bore, three position, 1992 Barcelona. SILVER: None. BRONZE: Wanda Jewell (Eastern Washington University), women’s three-position rifle, 1984 Los Angeles; Lance Bade (Vancouver), trap, 1996 Atlanta.

Olympic Qualifiers

Athletes with connections to the state who have qualified (or been selected) to for Summer Olympic Games.