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OPINION
WILKINSON, Circuit Judge:
Plaintiff Jonnie Sue Hux contends that her employer, the City of
Newport News, Virginia, failed to promote her to Fire Captain
because of her gender, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (2000). In its defense, the City
proffers evidence that it promoted male candidates over Hux because
they were better qualified. Plaintiff’s attempt to find pretext in this
neutral explanation consists of comparing herself to individual male
applicants on the basis of isolated promotional criteria, without
acknowledging that those applicants’ qualifications were superior to
hers overall. Her suggestion that summary judgment is precluded by
pinprick objections to an employer’s non-discriminatory justification
would place routine personnel decisions in judicial hands. We thus
affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the City.
I.
Defendant City of Newport News operates the Newport News Fire
Department, which provides, among other things, fire suppression and
emergency medical services (EMS). The Fire Chief, Kenneth Jones,
heads the entire Fire Department. Fire Chief Jones is directly assisted
by two Deputy Fire Chiefs. Fire Captains oversee each twenty-four
hour shift at the City’s ten fire stations. The Fire Captain position is
demanding, and involves a variety of supervisory duties both at the
fire station and during emergency operations. Fire Captains, in turn,
are assisted by Fire Lieutenants. Non-officer positions include Fire-
fighter/Medics, who may themselves earn "Senior" status.
Plaintiff Jonnie Sue Hux commenced employment with the City of
Newport News in 1986 as a dispatcher in the Emergency Communi-
cations Department. In 1990, Hux joined the Fire Department as an
emergency medical technician, and in 1992, the Department assigned
her to a "squad unit," a three-person team consisting of two fire-
fighters and one medic. While Hux did receive basic firefighting cer-
tification as part of her squad service, her work continued to focus
almost exclusively on EMS. The Department subsequently unified its
fire and medical personnel, and it reclassified Hux as a Fire-
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