PHOENIX, Ariz. - The nation's finest archers will take center stage tomorrow through Sunday at the third (and final) round of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Archery at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility in Phoenix, Ariz..
Eight male and eight female archers will vie for the three remaining men's spots and two women's spots on the U.S. team that will compete at the Olympic Games in Beijing, China this summer.
Two Arizona athletes are among the leading contenders after the first two rounds in Conyers, Ga., and Chula Vista, Calif.
Brady Ellison, 19, from Glendale, leads the men's side, and Lindsay Pian, 21, from Scottsdale, is fourth on the women's side. The combined ranking points from all three selection rounds will determine the final standings for the U.S. Olympic Team.
Ellison has been one of the country's top young archers in recent years. He was 2006 national target champion and a gold medalist at the 2006 Junior Olympic Archery Development National Championships. He competed on the U.S. team at last year's Pan American Games.
Pian has won several national titles in junior and senior-level competition and also represented the United States at the Pan American Games. She is a student at Arizona State University.
The competitors will register and have formal practice today. The 70-meter ranking rounds will be held Friday (May 2), single-elimination match play on Saturday, and round-robin competition on Sunday. Scores will be tabulated and team selection announced on Sunday.
The public is invited to visit the Ben Avery Shooting Facility FITA range to watch the event. Spectators are advised to bring their optics and to check-in at the information booth for an event program. Souvenir team photos will be available for children.
The USA Archery event is hosted by the Arizona Game and Fish Department and Arizona State Archery Association.
The Ben Avery Shooting Facility is located at the northwest corner of I-17 and Carefree Highway. To get to the FITA archery range, take I-17 to the Carefree Highway exit (Exit 223) and go 1.5 miles west on Carefree Highway to the stoplight at the Arizona Game and Fish Department's headquarters building. Turn right and follow the signs to the archery event.
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Note to media: *(Media interested in attending should contact Cecil Bleiker, NGB Elite Athlete Media Services Director for USA Archery via cellular phone at 719-330-2062. Approved media may pick up their credentials at the Registration trailer at the event. Interview access to athletes will be granted during the lunch break and following the conclusion of competition each day. Please relay athlete interview requests to Cecil Bleiker. Designated as the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, the event broadcast rights are owned by NBC. Non-NBC affiliated stations are encouraged to come to conduct interviews, but will not be allowed to shoot competition footage per the broadcast guidelines. A press conference announcing the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team for Archery is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 4 in the Auditorium of the Arizona Game and Fish Department Headquarters Building at 5000 West Carefree. All media and television affiliates are welcome to attend).*
USA Archery, a member organization of the United States Olympic Committee, is the National Governing Body for the sport of archery in the United States of America. As the NGB, USA Archery is responsible for selecting and sending U.S. teams to the Olympic Games, World Championships and other major international competitions. USA Archery also nourishes the grassroots development of the sport of archery in the United States.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, disability in its programs and activities. If anyone believes they have been discriminated against in any Game and Fish program or activity, including its employment practices, the individual may file a complaint alleging discrimination directly with the Game and Fish Deputy Director, 5000 W. Carefree Highway, Phx., AZ 85086, (602) 942-3000 or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4040 N. Fairfax Dr., Ste. 130, Arlington, VA 22203. If you require this document in an alternative format, please contact the Game and Fish Deputy Director as listed above or by calling TTY at 1-800-367-8939.
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