ANTALYA, Turkey - The U.S. compound men's team won their second straight Archery World Cup stage gold this morning in a repeat of Medellin's gold final against Italy. Averaging over 58 points per end, the U.S. was up 5 points after two ends. With one end to go, they increased their lead to 7 points and clinched the win 233-227.
Braden Gellenthien was the sole constant between the two teams in Medellin and in Colombia. "Our team is really strong," Gellenthien had commented, "it comes from the grassroots back home. We have maybe 8 to 10 guys that we can send on any weekend and do very well."
They proved that true as Bridger Deaton stepped in for his first team event of the 2016 World Cup season, joining Reo Wilde and Gellenthien. "It's good to be able to step out on the line with these guys, being able to make a medal match and being able to perform on stage again. I think for me it's the third year I've been out on this stage for a gold medal match in the team event here in Antalya, so it's fun to come back and do it again," Deaton shared.
With temperatures soaring over a scorching 100F on the field today, weather presented a challenge. The men combatted the heat: "We stayed hydrated, we made sure to keep our sugar levels up, we went to get some ice-cream before the match just to try to cool our bodies down," commented Gellenthien. "We did really well today and despite the really tough conditions we persevered. I'm very proud of these guys."
16-year old Dahlia Crook worked her way into the gold match after upsetting teammate Crystal Gauvin earlier in eliminations to face world ranked No. 1 Sara Lopez of Colombia. Crook opened with a pair of 27s to Lopez's matching 29s. After three ends, Lopez had a 5-point lead. Crook picked up a point in the next three arrows, but was unable to close the gap and Lopez took the win 144-141 for a sweep of the season as she took gold in each stage of the year.
This silver medal is Crook's first individual stage medal to date, and second Archery World Cup series podium finish after taking silver as part of the U.S. team in Medellin earlier this year. With strong performances all season, if Crook won gold in this final, she could have secured an invitation to the series Final this fall.
Competition resumes tomorrow with recurve finals as the U.S. men take on Brazil for the team bronze. Complete results from the event can be found here. For more, follow USA Archery on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Some information attributed to World Archery.
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