TEAM GLOCK shooter Tori Nonaka was selected to the USA Women’s Standard team based upon her performances in the four qualifying matches that lead up to the World’s. The nineteen year old from Virginia was competing in her second World Shoot, taking a silver medal in the individuals and a TEAM gold medal during the 2011 games held in Rhodes Hellas, Greece. Nonaka repeated the feat at this year’s event held in Frostproof, FL, at the Universal Shooting Academy, ran by acclaimed shooter and range owner, Frank Garcia.
The competition pits the very best Action Shooting competitors against each other as they represent not only their respective countries, but vie for the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in individual competition.
Match rules call for team scores to be made up of the top three shooters on the team, with the fourth best time dropped and not scored. On the first day of competition, the team was put at a disadvantage as the third member of the team committed a safety violation and was disqualified from participating any further in the match. Team USA members Carina Randolph, Randi Rogers and Nonaka were left to compete for the team championship, now with even less room for error. The three shooters were also locked into battle to determine the top female shooters individually.
The thirty-stage match spread out over a five day shooting schedule saw Nonaka, Rogers and Randolph neck and neck. Opposite the USA team in the Female Open competitors, was Standard Class shooter Hilde Nakling (31), from Norway. Nakling lead the way early in the match with Nonaka and
Rogers pulling ahead of Randolph by day three. On the fifth and final day of competition, Nakling faltered on the third from final stage opening the window for Nonaka and giving hope for Rogers to advance. On the first stage of the final day, the 160-point course performance would dictate the finish for the day. Nonaka took Silver; Rodgers claimed the Bronze and Nakling took the Gold.
On her performance Nonaka stated, “I really want to thank my sponsor GLOCK for making this event a reality for me. In four years I have shot two World Shoots and have collected two Individual Silver and two Team Gold medals against the top competition in the world. Congratulations to Hilde, Randi and all the other great women who shot a superb match and I look forward to our next competition.”
Nonaka will next compete with teammate Michelle Viscusi, who returns from the delivery of her first child earlier this month, in the USPSA Area 2 competition held on November 7-9, 2014 at the Rio Salado Sportsman’s Club in Mesa, AZ.
