COLLEGE STATION, Texas - After crazy weather alternating between hot, humid, and significant rain, the Texas Shootout saw intense competition. Arguably one of the hottest events of the year, the recurve archers who shot today were not only competing for national ranking points, but also many were hoping to make the top 16 cut for U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
LaNola Pritchard, who finished with the gold was shocked to hear she had won: "I never follow the rankings, so at the end I sat down with my dad and he said 'do you want to know?' and I was like 'Go for it.' He told me 'you're ten points up' and I just stared at him for a second."
"I was actually working on a lot, since we got back from Poland, the past two weeks I felt like I couldn't shoot so for this tournament I realized it had been in my head. I had crashed mentally. So I was keeping my mind in the correct place to shoot. I got in my groove and kept it and things worked! When I'm enjoying myself and just having fun, that's when it goes well."
Ariel Gibilaro, who finished third for the women just behind Mackenzie Brown, made her first USAT podium since 2013: "It feels awesome. I was focusing on just shooting my shot, pretty much the same as every tournament. The last two weeks things have really been clicking for me."
Brady Ellison, who had been bouncing around the top few spots all day pulled out a first place finish in the last few arrows: "I had been struggling, but I put some stuff together and was able to come back right at the end, I finished really strong. I was really happy to win the Texas Shootout. Going into tomorrow, I'm excited, it's the start of Olympic Trials and I'm hoping to do a little better than today."
Jake Kaminski and Sean McLaughlin held on to top three spots throughout the day finishing second and third respectively with a 1322 each.
Complete results and live scores throughout the weekend can be found here. For more, follow USA Archery on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Congratulations to the top 16 male and female archers who will continue with the U.S. Olympic Team Trials tomorrow morning:
Brady Ellison (Globe, Arizona)
Jake Kaminski (Gainesville, Florida)
Sean McLaughlin (West Chester, Ohio)
Zach Garrett (Wellington, Missouri)
Thomas Stanwood (Raynham, Massachusetts)
Jacob Wukie (Fremont, Ohio)
Collin Klimitchek (Victoria, Texas)
Daniel Schuller (Lancaster, Pennsylvania)
Matthew Requa (Houston, Texas)
Victor Wunderle (San Antonio, Texas)
Jeremiah Cusick (Scandia, Minnesota)
Ryan Fortenberry (Bulverde, Texas)
Daniel McLaughlin (West Chester, Ohio)
Chris Webster (Surprise, Arizona)
Brian Bullis Jr. (Glendale, Arizona)
Nathan Yamaguchi (Phoenix, Arizona)
LaNola Pritchard (Lehi, Utah)
Mackenzie Brown (Flint, Texas)
Ariel Gibilaro (North Branford, Connecticut)
Khatuna Lorig (West Hollywood, California)
Hye Youn Park (Cupertino, California)
Lauren Clamon (Palestine, Texas)
Christine Kim (Cerritos, California)
Heather Koehl (Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin)
Karissa Yamaguchi (Phoenix, Arizona)
Erin Mickelberry (Bothell, Washington)
Tatyana Muntyan (Delray Beach, Florida)
Lori Cieslinski (Howell, Michigan)
Allison Eaton (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
Meghan Collins (High Springs, Florida)
Anna Miscione (Ramona, California)
Madison Eich (Brier, Washington)
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