Fort Benning Soldiers Win Eight Medals in Three Separate Countries

By Lt. Col. Michelle LunatoFebruary 15, 2023

Fort Benning Soldiers Help Team USA Secure World Cup Gold Medal in Men's Skeet
1 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Staff Sergeants Dustan Taylor (left) and Christian Elliott (right) joined up with civilian athlete Connor Prince (center) to win the Gold Medal in the Men’s Skeet Team event at the International Shooting Sports Federation World Cup in Rabat, Morocco January 11-24, 2023.

Taylor, a Liberty, NC native, and Elliott, a Greenwood, IN native are both marksmanship instructors/competitive shooters at the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, which is stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia.

(ISSF Courtesy Photo by Abdelmajid Fahim) (Photo Credit: Lt. Col. Michelle Lunato)
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Greenwood, IN Native Wins Two World Cup Medals in Morocco
2 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Staff Sgt. Christian Elliott joined up with civilian athlete Dania Vizzi to win the Silver Medal in the Mixed Skeet Team event at the International Shooting Sports Federation World Cup in Rabat, Morocco January 11-24, 2023.

Elliott, a Greenwood, IN native, is marksmanship instructor/competitive shooter at the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, which is stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia.

(USA Shooting Courtesy photo) (Photo Credit: Lt. Col. Michelle Lunato)
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Fort Benning Soldiers Claim World Cup Trap Bronze Medal in Morocco
3 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Staff Sergeants Derek Haldeman (center right) and Will Hinton (right) joined up with civilian athlete Derrick Mein (left) to win the Bronze Medal in the Men’s Trap Team event at the International Shooting Sports Federation World Cup in Rabat, Morocco January 11-24, 2023.

Haldeman, a Sunbury, Ohio native, and Hinton a Dacula, GA native are both marksmanship instructors/competitive shooters at the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, which is stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia.

(ISSF Courtesy Photo by Abdelmajid Fahim) (Photo Credit: Lt. Col. Michelle Lunato)
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Fort Benning Soldier Claims Three World Cup Medals in Morocco
4 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Sgt. Rachel Tozier, a marksmanship instructor/competitive shooter with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, won three medals at the International Shooting Sports Federation Shotgun World Cup in Rabat, Morocco January 11 - 24, 2023. This Pattonsburg, MO native, took the Bronze in the individual Women's Trap event, Gold in the Mixed Trap event (along with teammate Derrick Mein), and the Gold in the Women's Trap Team event (along with teammates Aeriel Skinner and Julia Stallings.)

(ISSF Courtesy Photo by Abdelmajid Fahim) (Photo Credit: Lt. Col. Michelle Lunato)
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Female Soldier Wins Three Shotgun World Cup Medals in Morocco for Team USA
5 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Sgt. Rachel Tozier (center-left), a marksmanship instructor/competitive shooter with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, won three medals at the International Shooting Sports Federation Shotgun World Cup in Rabat, Morocco January 11 - 24, 2023. This Pattonsburg, MO native, took the Bronze in the individual Women's Trap event, Gold in the Mixed Trap event (along with teammate Derrick Mein-center right), and the Gold in the Women's Trap Team event (along with teammates Aeriel Skinner and Julia Stallings.)

(ISSF Courtesy Photo by Abdelmajid Fahim) (Photo Credit: Lt. Col. Michelle Lunato)
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USAMU Soldier Wins Three World Cup Medals in Morocco
6 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Sgt. Rachel Tozier (left), a marksmanship instructor/competitive shooter with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, won three medals at the International Shooting Sports Federation Shotgun World Cup in Rabat, Morocco January 11 - 24, 2023. This Pattonsburg, MO native, took the Bronze in the individual Women's Trap event, Gold in the Mixed Trap event (along with teammate Derrick Mein), and the Gold in the Women's Trap Team event (along with teammates Aeriel Skinner (right) and Julia Stallings (center).)

(ISSF Courtesy Photo by Abdelmajid Fahim) (Photo Credit: Lt. Col. Michelle Lunato)
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2020 Olympian/Soldier Preps for the Next Olympics by Winning International Competition.
7 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Sgt. Alison Weisz (center), a 2020 Olympian and marksmanship instructor/competitive shooter with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, won both a Bronze and Gold Medal in Women’s 10m Air Rifle during two separate matches at the Meyton Cup in Innsbruck, Austria January 20-25, 2023.

Weisz is a native a Belgrade, Montana and seeking another spot on Team USA for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

(ISSF Courtesy photo) (Photo Credit: Lt. Col. Michelle Lunato)
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2020 Olympian & Fort Benning Soldier Sets the Stage in Hopes for Another Olympic Spot
8 / 8 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Sgt. Sagen Maddalena (center), a 2020 Olympian and marksmanship instructor/competitive shooter with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, won the Gold Medal in Women’s 10m Air Rifle during the Day Two Match at the H & N Cup in Munich, Germany January 24-29, 2023.

Maddalena is a native a Groveland, CA and seeking another spot on Team USA for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

(ISSF Courtesy photo) (Photo Credit: Lt. Col. Michelle Lunato)
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Fort Benning, GA — Soldiers with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit kicked off 2023 by winning a total of eight medals at three separate international shooting competitions in January.

The USAMU Shotgun Team brought home the bulk of the medals at the International Shooting Sports Federation’s Shotgun World Cup in Rabat, Morocco January 11 - 24.

Staff Sgt. Christian Elliott seized the Silver Medal, along with his USA Shooting teammate Dania Vizzi, during the Mixed Skeet Team event.

Then in the Men’s Skeet Team event, Team USA won the Gold Medal. This team included USA Shooting athlete Connor Prince and USAMU’s Staff Sgt. Dustan Taylor and Elliott.

Though Taylor and Elliott did not make the podium in the individual skeet match, their strong performances raised their world ranking to 4th and 10th.

The trap section was up next and raised the shotgun medal count to six (of nine total shotgun medals by Team USA) by taking the Bronze Medal in the Men’s Trap Team event. Staff Sergeants Dereck Haldeman and Will Hinton joined up with their USA Shooting teammate, 2020 Olympian Derrick Mein, to claim that spot on the podium.

In the women’s category, USAMU’s Sgt. Rachel Tozier set the example of excellence by claiming a medal in all three events that she competed in. During the Women’s Trap event, this Pattonsburg, Missouri native took the individual Bronze Medal, which raised her world ranking to 11th. When she teamed up with Mein, she helped bring home the Gold in the Mixed Trap Team event. And then in the Women’s Trap Team event, Tozier helped secure yet another Gold Medal for Team USA. Teammates on that team included civilian athletes Ariel Skinner and Julia Stallings.

Winning a medal in every event was an absolutely amazing feeling, said the Fort Banning Soldier. “I’m proud to be able to represent the US and the Army at overseas events and I’m looking forward to the rest of the year.”

Meanwhile thousands of miles away in Innsbruck, Austria, 2020 Olympian Sgt. Alison Weisz with the USAMU International Rifle Team, claimed two of her own medals at the Meyton Cup. After the Day One Women’s 10m Air Rifle event, Weisz took home the Bronze Medal. After Day Two, this Soldier was determined to claim the Gold Medal this time.

At the H & N Cup in Munich, Germany (January 24-29), 2020 Olympian Sgt. Sagen Maddalena seized her own Gold Medal in the Day Two Women’s 10 Air Rifle event. The Soldier-athlete posted on her Instagram account that she “snuck into the Final low in the ranking list” and had to adjust her “process into a more aggressive shot execution.” The adjustment worked out for Maddalena and she said, “I am grateful to share the podium with Czech and Norway.”

The next competition the International Rifle Team is the ISSF Cairo, Egypt, World Cup, Feb. 17-24. The next competition for the Shotgun Team is the USA Shooting Spring Selection Feb. 3-8 in Tucson, Arizona.