Sunday, June 25, 2000
XU shooters earn Olympic berths
Kane
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ATLANTA — Xavier University's Thrine Kane and 1996 graduate Jason Parker have qualified for spots on the U.S. Olympic rifle team that will compete in Sydney, Australia, in September.
They are the first current or former XU students to earn Olympic berths in NCAA sports. Marathoner Julie Isphording, in 1984, and skeet shooter George Quigley Jr., in 1996, are both Xavier graduates who participated in the Olympics, but neither of their sports was NCAA-sanctioned.
“This is exciting for our program and the entire university,” 18-year veteran XU rifle coach Alan Joseph said from the USA Shooting National Championships this weekend. “Jason continues to establish himself both nationally and internationally.
“What Thrine has accomplished this year, both on our team and the U.S. Olympic team, is nothing short of amazing. She was just a freshman this year. I'm very proud of them.”
Kane won the women's three-position (standing, kneeling and prone) smallbore competition with an aggregate score from this weekend's competition and the other qualifier at Columbus, Ga., in April to clinch a berth on the Olympic team in that event. Today, she will compete in the air rifle competition, trying to gain an Olympic berth in a second discipline. She earned first-team All-America honors in air rifle and second-team All-American honors in smallbore in leading Xavier to a runner-up finish at the 2000 NCAA Rifle Championships in March. It marked XU's highest finish in any NCAA sport.
Parker — a former All-American in smallbore and air rifle while competing at Xavier — won the top spot on the Olympic team in air rifle division. Today and Monday, Parker will compete in the prone smallbore and Tuesday and Wednesday in the three-position smallbore competition, as he also tries to make the Olympic team in a second and third discipline.
Xavier Stories
 XU shooters earn Olympic berths
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