MEXICO CITY, Mexico - The World Archery Championships opened today with qualification for the compound men and women and the recurve men.
Braden Gellenthien (Hudson, Massachusetts) was the top qualifying U.S. compound man - taking 5th with a 709. Just behind with 704 and 702 were teammates Kris Schaff (Billings, Montana) and Steve Anderson (West Jordan, Utah) qualifying at 13th and 21st respectively for a team qualification rank of 2nd, just two points behind France.
The U.S. compound women also qualified just points apart, with Cassidy Cox (Albuquerque, New Mexico) coming in 27th with 686, Paige Gore (Red Bluff, California) 28th, also with 686, and Lexi Keller (Omro, Wisconsin) 34th with 684 in an incredibly tight field. As a team, the trio ranked 9th, and Cox together with Gellenthien will shoot as a mixed team, ranked 11th.
"The wind was really, really good the first half, right to left, but the second half it got choppy. It wasn't perfect conditions, but it was darn near close," commented Gellenthien.
This will be the first time Gellenthien and Cox shoot together in the mixed team event as Cox made her first World Championship debut last week at the Youth installment in Rosario, Argentina. Gellenthien helped Cox retune her bow here during practice and she added: "I shot a 60 on my second end, my shots felt really good. Thanks to the guys, my bow is tuned better than it ever has been, so it was really forgiving today, so even if my shots weren't great, they landed well." She also said Rosario, where Cox was part of the world record setting and bronze medaling team, was great preparation for this event.
"I'm super excited, it's going to be a lot of fun," added Gellenthien. "It'll be fun to get our rhythm down and have an all Mathews team. We both shoot fast so we won't have a problem with timing. From a cohesion side of things, this is one of the best teams we've ever had, everyone is getting along and hanging out and we're having a great time. Being here and representing Team USA is the biggest honor always, I love having the flag on my back, on my shirt, on my heart, this is what it's all about."
Gore agreed: "For me, today wasn't my best day, but just being here is such a cool thing and such a cool feeling that even on a bad day, I'm still so honored to be here and have this opportunity."
In the afternoon, the wind picked up considerably and was constantly changing. Scores were lower across the board. Coming in 15th for the recurve men was Brady Ellison (Globe, Arizona) with a 661, just 4 points off of the top 8 for a bye into the 1/16th round. Teammates Jake Kaminski (Gainesville, Florida) and Tom Stanwood (Raynham, Massachusetts) qualified 50th and 62nd respectively to put the team 12th headed into team rounds tomorrow.
Stanwood commented: "Making my World Championship debut with Jake and Brady is awesome - these are guys I have been shooting with for years and to represent Team USA with them is a great privilege. I have received a lot of kind words from my fellow competitors back home and it is so nice to have that support."
Competition resumes in the morning with the recurve women's qualification followed by elimination matches for the recurve men and women's teams through the semifinals. Results are available at www.worldarchery.org. The medal matches this weekend will stream live on the Olympic Channel. For more, follow USA Archery on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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