CINCINNATI, Ohio - The U.S. National Indoor Championships Final take place tomorrow in Cincinnati, Ohio. This spotlight showdown features the best of the best, as the top eight archers in each category go head to head in elimination matches for over $70,000 in prize money, with payouts to all places.
We have previewed the barebow and recurve lineups and the roster of compound archers predicts intense and exciting competition.
Kris Schaff (Billings, Montana) is the only compound archer to ever hold the Indoor and Outdoor World Cup Final Champion title simultaneously and has been on fire recently. Schaff won bronze last year and will be hungry for gold this year. With an 1195 in qualification, Schaff has already been a standout this season. It took an 1186 to make the cut to the top eight and this could easily be anyone’s game with the level of talent in the U.S. compound divisions.
With a three-way tie for 2ndin qualification with matching 1191s, Jacob Slusarz (Schenectady, New York), Reo Wilde (Pocatello, Idaho) and Jesse Broadwater (Ellenton, Florida) show just how tight the competition is. Slusarz has mainly competed in the IBO circuit, winning the IBO Triple Crown title 15-17 and the Semi Pro IBO World Champion title 15-17. He will be a dark horse competitor this weekend as a bit of an unknown in USA Archery events, but if his qualification score is an indicator, he’ll be tough to beat.
Wilde boasts 14 world championship gold medals, 3 Vegas titles, 4 Lancaster Classic titles and is a 3-time World Indoor Champion and Broadwater is a 2-time Vegas Champion, 2-time World Field Champion, 3-time World Cup Final Champion who holds multiple national titles. These seasoned competitors bring the most experience to the bracket.
David Houser (Creekside, Pennsylvania) returns to the Final this year as the 5thseed. Houser’s impressive resume includes taking bronze at the 2017 Vegas Shoot, gold at the 2015 U.S. National Target Championships and individual and team silver at the 2015 World Archery Youth Championships.
6thranked Richard Jackson (Shickshinny, Pennsylvania) scored a 900 in Vegas this year to make the shoot off and had a strong showing at the Lancaster Classic.
Caleb Sorrells (Salem, Virginia) has had some standout performances in USAT events in past years and this year he shared 9that the Lancaster Classic and was one point down in Vegas. Sorrells will be looking to make some big moves in Cincinnati.
Tate Morgan (Billings, Montana) has won the U.S. Open Champion title two of the last three years and will represent USA on the World Cup Circuit this year. At last year’s World Archery Indoor Championships, Morgan won team gold with Schaff and Broadwater.
Defending gold and silver medalists Paige Pearce (Red Bluff, California) and Sophia Strachan (Frederick, Maryland) are back in the first and second spots after scoring 1179 and 1169 each in qualification. At just 23 years old, Pearce boasts the most experience of any woman in the compound bracket. In addition to holding more youth world champion titles than anyone else in history, Pearce has made a name for herself on the adult circuit the last several years, including the World Field Champion title, World Indoor Team Champion title capping an awesome breakout indoor season last year. Pearce finished 4that the first Indoor World Series Final and will look to defend her win in Cincinnati.
Strachan is a student athlete, pursuing a degree at Columbia University while competing in USA Archery’s Collegiate Archery Program. In addition to a rigorous academic schedule, Strachan has also managed to rack up high finishes at two world university championships, gold as a junior at the 2016 World Archery Field Championships and podium finishes at the 2018 Field Championships and 2017 World Archery Youth Championships.
In just the last few months, 2018 Vegas Champion Alexis Ruiz (Glendale, Arizona) has broken the outdoor national record, and this indoor season, she won both the Macau and Rome legs of the Indoor World Series and finished 9thoverall. Ruiz is also a student athlete competing in the USA Archery Collegiate Archery Program for Grand Canyon University.
Reigning junior indoor world champion Cassidy Cox (Albuquerque, New Mexico) qualified 4thfor the Final. Cox is a fierce competitor in both the junior and senior divisions; she also represents USA Archery on the World Cup stage and competed for Team USA at the last World Archery Championships.
Breanna Theodore (Hibbing, Minnesota) is the reigning outdoor target National Champion, who won team gold with Pearce at the World Indoor Championships last year. Theodore is gearing up for her first season on the World Cup circuit and will be a contender for a shot at the big stage in Cincy.
Sachiko Keane (Staten Island, New York) returns to the Final this year. Keane has set multiple youth world records and is no stranger to the international scene, having won team silver and mixed team bronze at the 2017 World Archery Youth Championships.
Athena Caiopoulos (Irvine, California) has been named to the cadet U.S. Archery Team for the last five years, and has been the top ranked cadet for the last two consecutive years. Caiopoulos has competed at the last two World Archery Indoor Championships, taking individual bronze in 2016 and team gold in 2018.
Raegan Bender (Omaha, Nebraska) won the S3DA Western Region Nationals in 2018 in the High School Female Open division and was S3DA Runner Up Shooter of the Year. Bender also took 6th in Vegas last year as a Young Adult Female Open.
To follow the Final on Friday, March 15th, tune in to USA Archery’s live results page for scores as the quarterfinals begin at 1:10pm ET. The gold medal matches will be available on Competition Archery Media’s YouTube channel at 2:15pm ET.
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