Over 1600 archers from across the world have descended upon Las Vegas this weekend, determined to try their luck at the National Field Archery Association's World Archery Festival, otherwise known as "The Vegas Shoot." Competition was hot during day one of this three-day event, in which archers shoot a 300 round on each day for a chance at the largest cash payout of any archery tournament.
42 archers in the Freestyle Unlimited - Championship Male category have finished clean for the first day, heading into Saturday's competition with a perfect score of 300. Leading the category and the X count are Nicholas Annen with 300/30x, followed by Braden Gellenthien, George Ryals, Cody Thompson, Keith Trail and Reo Wilde, with 29x each, tying all of these archers for second place.
For the Freestyle Unlimited - Championship Female category, #2 world ranked Erika Anschutz leads the pack with a clean 300 and 27x. "It was a great day for me," explained Anschutz. "I'm ready for the second day of competition." Anschutz was followed by Tiffany Reeves, with a 300/16x, and Christie Colin, shooting a 299 with 24x.
On the recurve side, the competition was equally exciting, with the top three archers just one point apart in the men's group. USA Archery National Champion Jake Kaminski currently leads the Recurve Championship Male category, shooting a 298 with 19x; Crispin Duenas (CAN) is just behind, with 297/14x, and USA Archery Resident Athlete Jacob Wukie in third, scoring a 296/14x. "Nobody has ever cleaned it in the men's recurve," explained one Championship Male archer. "We've seen a 299, but we're all chasing the perfect score this weekend."
In the Recurve Championship Female category, Carina Christiansen (DEN) shot well enough to end the day in first place, shooting a 292 with 9x. She is followed by Naomi Folkard (GBR) with a 289/5x, and Marina Nayrole (FRA), who hit a 286/8x. American shooters Jenifer Nichols and Khatuna Lorig are just behind, rounding out the top five with a 286 and 285 respectively.
Other highlights of the first day's competition include Paralympian Jeff Fabry leading the Freestyle Limited - Championship category with a 291, Benny Parenteau (CAN) on top of the Freestyle Unlimited - Championship Senior group with 300, Justin Paulino leading the Freestyle Unlimited - Flights, also with a 300, and George Harding in first for Recurve Flights, shooting a 290.
On Saturday, the Archery World Cup Indoor Challenge will also be competed, in which the top archers who competed in both the European Indoor Tournament of Nimes and in this event, will shoot for top honors. The event, which takes place this evening, will feature many of the world's top archers in an exciting competition round. Follow USA Archery on Twitter for more coverage throughout the weekend: http://www.twitter.com/usaarchery.
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