July 30, 2011

Excitement Promised at the Hoyt World Open

It was an exciting morning in Yankton, South Dakota, where there were lots of surprise victories and some interesting upsets across all categories. In the women's recurve group, Shannon Ostling, the rising star from Washington state, shot her way past some very tough competition, including fourth seeded senior Jennifer Nichols (TX) in the 1/8 round and second ranked Khatuna Lorig (CA) in the quarterfinals. Ostling will face Naomi Folkard (GBR) tonight for the Hoyt World Open bronze medal.

Ya-Ting Tan (TPE), the top scoring recurve woman overall with a 1350 in the FITA round, will meet USA Archery Resident Athlete Heather Koehl (WI) for the gold. Koehl was unstoppable in her matches this morning, winning a tough tiebreaker match versus Miranda Leek (IA) and Folkard, considered a tough competitor on the international scene.

In the men's recurve, Junior Dream Team member Daniel McLaughlin (OH) was the suprise of the morning, taking number one World Ranked Brady Ellison to a 4-4 quarterfinals tie before Ellison took the final set. Five time Olympian Butch Johnson shot his way through a tough match with fifth ranked Peter Kelchner (CA) to meet number one World Ranked Brady Ellison (AZ) in the semifinal. Johnson and Ellison faced one another for five sets, with Ellison ultimately winning, 6-4. Johnson will meet Texas A&M archer Max Sera in the bronze medal match.

"I started in 4-H and then in JOAD, and have worked with (coach) Bill Coady since 4-H" explained Sera. "I haven't been able to practice as much as I would like because of work, but I made some form changes recently that are helping, and I'm looking forward to tonight." Edging Sera out in the semifinal match was Jake Kaminski (CA), a USA Archery Resident Athlete and also an Olympic hopeful for 2012. Kaminski competed successfully through tough matches against Jason McKittrick (IN) and Jeff Anderson (WA) to earn his berth in the gold medal match versus Ellison.

The compound women's group also held some interesting results, with top ranked archers Erika Anschutz (OH) and Camilla Soemod (DEN) ending their competitions in the quartefinals, in which Samantha Neal (NY) and Andrea Gales (GBR) both won their matches with one-arrow tiebreakers. Christie Colin (PA) won her quarterfinal match versus Alicia McHenry (PA) and then went on to face Neal in the semis, where she prevailed with a six point win.

Jamie Van Natta (OH) continued her winning streak in today's matches as well. The Easton Award winner and newly-crowned National Champion took a one point victory versus Sarah Lance in the quarterfinals, and another one point win against Gales in the semifinals, to earn her spot in the gold medal match. There, she will face World Archery Championships teammate Colin, while Neal and Gales will meet for bronze.

On the compound side, there were also several surprises in the men's group, with powerhouse archers Braden Gellenthien (VA) and Reo Wilde (OH) being eliminated in the quarterfinals, by Kevin Wilkey (UT) and Rod Menzer (WI), respectively. Dietmar Trillus (CAN), one of the world's top compound archers, won critical matches versus Canadian teammate Kevin Tataryn and Wilkey to punch his ticket to the gold medal match.

Wilkey was the archer who scored two points on favorite Gellenthien to make his way to the semifinals. He ultimately gave up three points to Trillus, who was too difficult to stop with his 146-143 win. At the same time, Easton Award winner and National Champion Jesse Broadwater (PA), coming off a world record win yesterday, was strong enough to stop Michael Anderson (IA) and Menzer, with a five point victory to achieve his spot in the gold medal match.

This afternoon, cadet and masters archers will compete in their elimination rounds, while the senior finals will pick up tonight at 6:00 p.m. CDT. Archers shooting in the finals will be competing for their share of over $54,000 in cash prizes, thanks to title sponsor Hoyt and USA Archery, while many other archers will also compete in a shoot-off for a brand new Ford Mustang. Follow the excitement live at http://www.ianseo.net/Details.php?toId=172, and follow USA Archery on Twitter and Facebook for exclusive updates and photos throughout the event.

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