Sports

Alaska trapshooter Cogdell-Unrein wins World Cup gold

Alaska trapshooter Corey Cogdell-Unrein, a two-time Olympic medalist, found a new way to win a medal Wednesday.

The Eagle River woman teamed up with Jake Wallace of Castaic, California, to win the mixed team event at a World Cup competition in Tucson, Arizona.

The triumph marked the eighth time Codgell-Unrein has claimed a World Cup medal, and the first time she's earned one in the mixed team event.

Cogdell-Unrein is a three-time Olympian who won bronze medals in women's trapshoot at the 2008 and 2016 Summer Olympics. In May she teamed up with Wallace for the team event, which became a World Cup event last year and will make its Olympic debut at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

The pair won Wednesday's six-team finals with a score of 43 out of 50 to beat France's Melanie Couzy and Sebastien Guerrero by one target.

"We battled all day long," Cogdell-Unrein said in a press release from USA Shooting. "The scores were all over the place and we had to focus to battle throughout the day."

The United States earned another medal with a third-place finish from Kayle Browning and Will Hinton, who combined for a score of 32 in the finals.

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In the finals, teammates alternate after every five targets for a total of 50. Cogdell-Unrein shot first and Wallace shot last, with Cogdell-Unrein hitting 20 of 25 and Wallace hitting 23 of 25.

"Corey is a strong starter and I'm a strong finisher, so we decided to go with that," Wallace said in the USA Shooting release.

Both American teams will compete at next month's World Championships in South Korea.

Beth Bragg

Beth Bragg wrote about sports and other topics for the ADN for more than 35 years, much of it as sports editor. She retired in October 2021. She's contributing coverage of Alaskans involved in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

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