The 2019 Archery World Cup Series opens next week in the heart of Latin America, in a return to Medellin, Colombia, a previous stop on the tour in 2013-2016. The circuit will also visit Shanghai and Antalya in the lead up to the World Archery Championships in the Netherlands this June. Berlin will host the fourth stage and the location of the season Final will be announced soon.
The winner of each of the four stages automatically qualifies for the Final, so with three events in the next five weeks, a large portion of the Final lineup may be determined in record pace.
The USA lineup for the World Cups is dynamic throughout the year, but the same team will represent at each of the first two stages.
Reigning Indoor and Outdoor Final winner Kris Schaff returns with the World Cup’s most decorated archer of all time, Braden Gellenthien. USA’s compound squad has historically performed well at this event, and will look to bring home the gold once again. Making their outdoor world cup debuts, Tate Morgan and Matt Sullivan are strong additions to this year’s team.
The compound women’s team also sees big changes this year with a noticeably young team. World Youth Champion Alexis Ruiz set a new senior national record last year and dominated this indoor season. Breanna Theodore has also had standout international performances but makes her outdoor world cup debut alongside Ruiz and 2016 World Youth Field Champion and Columbia University student-athlete Sophia Strachan. As the only team member with experience on the circuit, World No. 14 Jamie Van Natta returns to the stage.
All four recurve men on the USA lineup are training at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center and in the lead up to Tokyo 2020, they should have a strong team dynamic headed into this season. Brady Ellison has been the top performing U.S. archer for over a decade and with a clean bill of health this season, he’s looking stronger than ever before.
Ellison’s World Championships teammate Jack Williams has also been shooting higher scores and while he’s competed on the circuit before, he’ll look to bring home his first world cup medals this year. Neither Matt Requa or Alex Bourdage are newcomers to the world cup stage either, nor have they yet to podium, but 2019 may well be the year that changes.
The recurve women’s standings in the U.S. have stayed fairly set over the past year. The same team will represent at the first three stages this season, and Khatuna Lorig, Erin Mickelberry and Casey Kaufhold will comprise Team USA for this summer’s World Championships and Pan Am Games. Kaufhold makes her senior world cup debut after a stellar breakout season indoors. Five-time Olympian Lorig brings great experience and a long resume to the team. Mickelberry has made several appearances on the world cup stage since 2016. Olympian Mackenzie Brown will be a strong anchor for the team, having won many world cup podium finishes in recent years.
To follow the competition, scores will be live at www.worldarchery.org. Practice will begin Monday with qualification on Tuesday. Early eliminations will take place Wednesday through Friday. The medal finals will be available live next weekend on NBC’s Olympic Channel at www.olympicchannel.com/live.
Some information attributed to World Archery Communications.
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