Guadalajara, Mexico - Brady Ellison (Glendale, AZ) and Miranda Leek (Des Moines, IA) collected their second medals of the Pan Am Games, this time an individual gold for Ellison, and silver for Leek, following their gold and silver team round victories on Friday.
Leek began her day with a semifinal win versus Aida Roman of Mexico, widely considered a strong contender for the gold medal match. Shooting six set points to Roman's two, Leek advanced to meet top-ranked archer Alejandra Velencia (MEX) in the final. An equipment problem created an issue for Leek in the first set of the match, causing her to give up critical points early on. Though she rallied and took the third set, it was not enough to stop Valencia, who took the gold medal with a 6-2 decision, giving Leek the silver.
Ellison found success in his first match, a semifinals meeting with Juan Rene Serrano of Mexico, the top seeded-archer in the 2008 Olympic Games. Giving up just one set, Ellison clinched his spot in the gold medal match with a 6-2 win. Coming up against Canada's Crispin Duenas in the final, the number one world-ranked Ellison took the match to five sets, eventually winning the gold medal, 6-4.
"It's been a good year," commented Ellison following his gold medal win, which caps off a nearly undefeated international season. "This is the first gold medal I have had at an event of this magnitude. I'm so happy to have been a part of this team, we have had a great Pan Am Games and I'm proud to have helped the medal count."
KiSik Lee, USA Archery's National Head Coach, agreed: "What a year. Thank you so much to USA Archery and all of our fans."
Complete results are available online at http://info.guadalajara2011.org.mx/ENG/ZZ/ZZS103A_AR@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ENG.htm.
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