Team USA, represented by members of the Junior United States Archery Team (Jr. USAT) at the Torneo Ciudad de Medellin, will return to the United States on Wednesday with individual gold and bronze medals, team gold, silver and bronze; and mixed team gold. The team of youth archers, competing as seniors at this event, also returns home with individual and team world records, FITA round medals and distance medals, bringing an extremely successful World Ranking Event to a close.
In the recurve men's group, Peter Kelchner (Albuquerque, NM) and Josh Smith (Riverside, CA) were both eliminated in the 1/8 round, while Forrest Blakley (Cobden, IL) shot his way into the quarterfinal matches, in which he won a 6-5 victory over Daniel Pineda (COL) to advance to the semis. Blakley met Romain Girioulle (FRA), who took the match by one point, leaving Blakley to face Daniel Pacheco (COL) for the bronze, which Pacheco won with a 6-4 decision. Giroulle moved on to face teammate Sebastien Flute in the gold medal match, which Giroulle took in three sets, 6-4.
There were two matches in which Team USA recurve women faced one another, the first of which was in the 1/16, where Lauren Hughes (Port Orchard, WA) met teammate Holly Stover (Brighton, MI), who took the match, 4-0. Stover joined Miranda Leek (Des Moines, IA) and Emily Blake (Colchester, VT), all advancing to the 1/8 round, in which Blake was defeated by Sigrid Romero (COL), 4-2, and Leek was retired by Stover in a close match, 4-3. Stover advanced to face Denisse Van Lamoen (CHI) in the quarterfinals, and Van Lamoen took the match, 6-5. Ultimately, Berengere Schuh (FRA) took the gold medal for women's recurve with a 6-4 win over Iria Grandal (ESP), while Larissa Pagan (CUB) won the bronze in her match with Van Lamoen, 6-5.
Team USA led the charge in the compound men's group, starting strong and never looking back. All four junior teammates advanced to the quarterfinals, in which Cody Thompson (Aberdeen, NC) defeated teammate Levi Cyr (Falmouth, ME), 6-4, and Garrett Abernathy (Aiken, SC) took his match against Josh Byerly (Crestline, OH), 6-2. Thompson and Abernathy went on to face one another in the semifinals; following a close match, Abernathy advanced to face Jorge Jimenez (ESA) for the gold medal, while Thompson met Camilo Andres Cardona (RIS) in the bronze match. The medal rounds proved to be a double victory for Team USA, with Thompson taking the bronze in a 6-0 shutout, while Abernathy clinched the gold with a 7-3 victory over top-ranked senior archer Jimenez.
Carli Cochran (Quarryville, PA) and Elizabeth Sweet (Midway City, CA), competing in the compound women's group on behalf of the United States, both advanced to the quarterfinals, where Cochran was retired after a matchup with Isabel Sema (COL), in which Sema prevailed, 7-3. Sweet advanced to the semifinals after defeating Viviana Rosero (VAL), 6-5; she ultimately secured a spot in the bronze medal match, but retired after a 6-2 loss to Alejandra Usquiano (COL), while Natalia Londono (COL) clinched a gold-medal victory against Sema, 7-3.
The United States proved a force to contend with in both the team and mixed team events. In the mixed team round, Blake and Blakley shot the recurve event, in which they eventually advanced to the bronze medal match against Cuba, who took the bronze after a 143-138 win. France ultimately won a gold medal victory over Colombia with a 152-148 score. In the compound event, the team of Abernathy and Sweet was strong enough to advance to the gold medal match, where they clinched the gold after a 153-145 win over Venezuela, while Colombia took the bronze.
In the team rounds, the U.S. recurve men's team of Blakley, Kelchner and Smith ultimately took the bronze medal, while France won a second gold in a matchup with Colombia, winning 222-210. The recurve women's team of Leek, Hughes and Stover advanced to the gold medal match after defeating the team from Puerto Rico, 192-186. In the gold match, Team USA faced host team Colombia, who took the match with a 218-200 victory, giving the U.S. the silver and Puerto Rico the bronze. On the compound side, the U.S. compound men's team of Thompson, Cyr and Byerly proved strong as they defeated Venezuela, 231-228 to win the gold, while Colombia took the bronze.
Click here for complete results from the Torneo Ciudad de Medellin.
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