Chula Vista, CALIFORNIA - Awards were presented yesterday at the SoCal Showdown Presented by AAE. As the third of four national team qualifier events, competition is heating up between archers vying for top honors and hoping to earn spots on teams traveling internationally in the upcoming months.
In Sunday's finals at the SoCal Showdown, the archers, ranked by their cumulative score of 72 arrows, shoot head-to-head elimination matches. The recurve archers shoot what is called the "Set System," where each set of three arrows is worth 2 set-points for a win, or 1-each for a tie. 6 set-points wins a match, but if the archers tie at 5-5, they must compete in a one-arrow shoot-off with the arrow closest to the center taking the win. The compound archers shoot for a cumulative score over 5 sets of 3 arrows.
Many young stars are rising in the recurve women's division this season, with a new generation of archers stepping into the elite ranks of competition. 20-year old LaNola Pritchard (Chula Vista, California) and Archery World Cup teammate, Khatuna Lorig (Los Angeles, California) shot a super close gold medal match. Pritchard forced a single-arrow shoot-off, managing a perfect X under intense pressure to take the win. 17-year old Anna Miscione (Ramona, California), who recently made her first senior podium at a Easton Foundations Gator Cup, clinched her second medal in a decisive 7-1 win for bronze over Mackenzie Brown (Chula Vista, California).
On the recurve men's side, Jake Linde-Kaminski (Gainesville, Florida) edged out Canada's Olympian, Crispin Duenas in a 6-4 fight for gold. Victor Wunderle and Andrew Mateo, seeded 25th and 36th respectively, both made the top 8, showing that elimination matches really can be anyone's game. Nathan Yamaguchi (Chula Vista, California), who has been a strong shooter throughout this season, knocked out Olympian Brady Ellison (Globe, Arizona) in the quarterfinals. Yamaguchi took 4th behind fellow Resident Athlete, Collin Klimitchek (Chula Vista, California), who seized the bronze win in a 5-set match.
Braden Gellenthien (College Station, Texas) and Reo Wilde (Pocatello, Idaho) duked it out for the SoCal Showdown Champion title. After a back and forth battle for the first four sets the two entered the final three arrows with a tied score, but Gellenthien's 28 won over Wilde's 27, giving the title to Gellenthien. Steve Anderson (Salt Lake City, Utah) and Alex Wifler (Crete, Illinois) had a similar match, tied going into the final set. Again, Anderson's 28 just edged the bronze win over Wifler's 27.
Toja Cerne of Slovenia was crowned champion of the compound women's division over 19-year old Brogan Williams (Stillwater, Oklahoma) who has only been competing seriously for the last two years. Also relatively new to the elite ranks, Crystal Gauvin (Dayville, Connecticut) posted a strong 143 to seal the bronze win over 10th seed, Dahlia Crook. Crook, who is just 15-years old, shoots up in age categories and is making quite a splash in the senior ranks this year.
For complete results from these matches and more click here and follow USA Archery on Facebook and Twitter for photos and updates from the field. Next up for these talented archers: the U.S. National Target Championships, U.S. Open, and Easton JOAD Nationals, known as "Outdoor Nationals," begin July 1 in Decatur, Alabama.
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