Guadalajara, Mexico - Brady Ellison (Glendale, AZ) and Miranda Leek (Des Moines, IA), two of archery's youngest stars, propelled their respective teams to gold and silver medals at the Pan Am Games today. Ellison, together with teammates Joe Fanchin (Oceanside, CA) and Jake Kaminski (Elma, NY), took a gold medal victory versus Mexico, 221-210. The women's team, featuring Leek, along with Khatuna Lorig (West Hollywood, CA) and Heather Koehl (Sheboygan Falls, WI), claimed a silver medal after losing to Mexico in the gold medal match, 215-204.
The U.S. women had a close first match in the quarterfinals versus Chile, but were able to stay in the game with a 202-201 win. Advancing to the semifinals, the U.S. team faced third-ranked Venezuela. The team of Leek, Lorig and Koehl hit higher scores in this match, posting a 211 to Venezuela's 204. In the gold medal match, the U.S. women found a tough opponent in Mexico, who cruised to a 215-204 win, giving the United States the silver medal.
Ellison and the men's team found early success in their quarterfinals match with El Salvador. With a solid 224-220 decision, they advanced to meet Cuba in the semifinals, and claimed a Pan Am Games record with their winning score of 227. Shooting for gold, Ellison, Fanchin and Kaminski were challenged by a strong Mexican team. Down just one point after the first end, the U.S. team reclaimed the lead and never looked back, winning the gold medal, 220-210.
"We are excited that we were able to come down here and defend our Pan Am Games title," explained Ellison, Fanchin and Kaminski. "We shot good, we broke the Pan Am Games record in the semifinal round, and we were proud to add another gold medal to the USA medal count."
The action continues tomorrow with Ellison and Leek competing in the individual semifinals. Follow USA Archery on Twitter and Facebook for updates and more: http://www.twitter.com/usaarchery and http://www.facebook.com/usaarchery. Complete results are available at http://www.archery.org. ??
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