When you look up the word deadeye in the dictionary, you’re liable to see a Petracek family portrait. Connie, Kristen, and Kara Petracek could fill a warehouse with the trophies and honors they’ve won in state, national, and international competitions. “I’ve been around athletics all my life,” said TSSAA’s Bob Baldridge, who for years was also banquet chairman for the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. “I’ve never seen any person or team receive as many awards and honors as Connie Petracek. And it’s even more amazing to see that it seems to run in the family.” Connie, a national champion in both air and sport pistol events, was named in 1996 the United States Olympic Committee’s Female Shooting Athlete of the Year and the 1995 Female Pistol Shooter of the Year. She was a member of the 1992 and 1996 U.S. Olympic shooting teams. Daughters Kristen and Kara are also veterans of countless national and international shooting events and are well on their way to following in their mother’s championship footsteps. Kristen and Connie were the first mother-daughter team to compete in the history of the U.S. Olympics Festival. Kara, a student at Wake Forest University, was a member of the 1998 World Championship team, while Kristen was an honors student at the University of Notre Dame. Look for the Petraceks to bring home honors to Nashville for years to come.
