PHOENIX, Arizona – The Arizona Cup, typically the staple opening event of the United States Archery Team (USAT) Qualifier Series for the last three decades, returns to kick off the season after a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With enhanced safety protocols in place, the event sold out quickly in both the youth and adult competitions.
The youth divisions took the field today for a 72-arrow qualification round. Despite hot sun and some challenging winds, scores stayed high and competitive.
Arizona, with one of USA Archery’s longest standing and largest state associations, boasts many talented archers. Arizona’s compound junior women Elisa Keller and Abigail Reese Veidmark qualified first and third with 657 and 650, bookending Kate Iodice’s 655, while Arizona compound junior men Spencer Yee and Cooper French were second and third in today’s rounds behind Tyler Heritage’s 690 with 685 and 682 respectively.
Gabe Anderson, who had a stellar performance on the 2020 circuit, topped today’s qualification round for the recurve junior men, topping the rankings with a 626 over Stefan Savin and Hanwul Lee’s 622 and 617. Eunice Choi, the top ranked cadet archer last year, made a splash in the junior bracket, also qualifying first for the women, scoring a 607, clearing the field by 18 points; Megan McDonough and Abigail Rutledge ranked second and third.
Emma Kim, who also had an impressive 2020 season, led the recurve cadet women with a 636, the largest competition division on the field today. Natalie Hong and Jada Cho were right behind with matching 609s. The recurve cadet men’s division saw Andrew Yoo, Davis Beauvais and Jacob Kim top the ranking round with 637, 630 and 621 respectively.
Top nationally ranked compound cadet archers Sawyer Sullivan and Isaac Sullivan once again came out ahead today, scoring 680 and 668 ahead of Jaydon Soderlund’s 665. Sydney Sullenberger and twins Samantha and Allison Roberts led the compound cadet women’s qualification with 678, 678 and 664 each.
Competition resumes tomorrow with senior and master qualification in the morning and youth elimination matches in the afternoon. Complete results from today’s competition are available on Between Ends. Photos are available on USA Archery’s SmugMug. Senior gold medal matches will stream live on Sunday at 1pm PT on USA Archery’s Facebook and YouTube.
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