Will Shaner, Mary Tucker Together Earn Gold in Air Rifle Mixed Team
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky rifle stars William Shaner and Mary Tucker teamed together to earn gold in the air rifle 10m mixed team event at the ISSF Junior World Championships in Lima, Peru on Saturday.
The duo rolled through qualifying earlier this week to advance to the gold medal match Saturday. In the final, Tucker and Shaner jumped out to a quick start and never looked back, earning a 17-15 win over India’s Atmika Gupta and Singh Rajpreet Singh. Shaner also earned a silver Saturday when he and two fellow American males advanced to the air rifle men’s team gold medal match. India’s men’s air rifle team got the better of the Americans in the final with Shaner and Co. taking silver.
Overall, the first week of competition was a successful one for Shaner and Tucker. Shaner has claimed three medals with gold in men’s air rifle 10m, gold in mixed team air rifle 10m and silver in men’s team air rifle 10m. Tucker has won two medals, earning silver in women’s air rifle 10m and gold in mixed team air rifle 10m. Overall, the Americans are in second in the team medal count with Tucker and Shaner combining for five of the nation’s nine medals.
International competition is nothing new to Shaner nor Tucker, who both qualified for the United States to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and brought home medals. Shaner became the first American male to bring home gold in the 10m air rifle event, while Tucker won silver in the mixed team air rifle event and finished sixth in women’s 10m air rifle. Shaner finished sixth in the mixed team event. Both stars have been consensus first-team All-America honorees each of the last two years with Shaner also carrying that same title as a freshman. Tucker was the smallbore, air rifle and overall NCAA national champion last season, while Shaner finished second in air rifle. The two have combined to win the last three CRCA Athlete of the Year award with Shaner taking it in 2019 while Tucker won the title in 2020 and 2021.
Shaner and Tucker both helped Kentucky claim its third national championship in 2021 and the Wildcats will begin the 2021-22 season ranked No. 1 in the CRCA Preseason Top 20. The 2021-22 season begins Oct. 9 with UK traveling to Morehead State for a dual match. UK’s home opener will be Nov. 6 against Ole Miss, who is No. 2 in the CRCA Preseason Top 20.
The 2021 ISFF Junior World Championships featuring rifle, pistol and shotgun events, are taking place September 27 through October 10 in Lima, Peru. A complete schedule of events, including live results and a broadcast schedule is available online at ISSF-sports.org. Shaner and Tucker will team up in the air rifle 10m mixed team event and represent the USA in the air rifle 10m team competition Saturday.
For more information on the Kentucky rifle team, visit UKathletics.com or follow UKRifle on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
