The team of Junior and Cadet United States Archery Team (USAT) members who shot at the Juan Enrique Barrios Cup World Ranking Event in Salinas, Puerto Rico this week had to contend with temperatures over 108 degrees Fahrenheit and other challenging weather conditions. It didn't matter, though: when it came down to the finals, this group of America's best young archers delivered, to the tune of 22 team and individual finals medals.
In the recurve men's open category, Team USA's Josh Smith (Riverside, CA) faced Genarro Riccio (ARG) in the gold medal match, with Smith taking the silver, while Matthew Zumbo (Fountain Valley, CA) took the bronze medal in his match. Match scores were unavailable as of this writing. In the male recurve junior category, it was an all-USA final, with Peter Kelchner (Albuquerque, NM) winning the gold over silver medalist Aaron Henslin (Screven, GA), and Smith ending with the bronze.
Nadya Ruiz (PUR) was the gold medal winner in the women's recurve open group, with Team USA's Holly Stover (Brighton, MI) ending her event on the podium with the silver. Ximena Mendiberry (ARG) won the bronze medal for this category. In the junior women's recurve category, it was Mackenzie Brown (Flint, TX) who won the gold medal in her match versus Stover, who ended with the silver. Yesenia Valencia (GUA) took the bronze.
On the compound side, Jean Pizzaro (PUR) won his men's compound open gold medal match against Team USA's Garrett Abernathy (Aiken, SC), racking up another silver medal for the U.S., while Puerto Rico's Daniel Castro won the bronze medal. Competing in the junior group, it was a repeat of Pizzaro and Abernathy's gold medal match, with the same result, while Jose Yunen (REP) won his bronze medal match in the junior category.
Again in the finals, there was a strong showing from the U.S. team of compound women. In keeping with the very high standards set by their senior counterparts, these young ladies found the podium again and again, with Kailey Johnston (Dublin, GA) winning the gold medal in her match against teammate Sarah Lance (Wyandotte, MI), and Paige Pearce (Red Bluff, CA) finishing with the bronze medal. Competing as juniors, Pearce made her way to the gold medal match versus Johnston, which Johnston took, racking up her second individual gold medal and giving Pearce the silver, while Lance took the bronze.
In the team finals, the U.S. women continued to fare well. The team of Emily Blake (Colchester, VT), Stover and Shannon Ostling (Snohomish, WA) delivered a win in their recurve gold medal match with Argentina; Puerto Rico won the bronze. For the compounds, the trio of Johnston, Lance and Pearce also won their gold medal match versus Puerto Rico, while Argentina took the bronze.
For the men, the recurve open team of Zumbo, Kelchner and Smith took silver in their gold medal match versus Puerto Rico; Argentina ended with bronze. On the compound side, the men competed in both the men's open and junior categories; the U.S. team of Henry Bass (Riverton, UT), Evan Scudner (Lancaster, PA) and Levi Cyr (Falmouth, ME) took the silver versus Puerto Rico in the gold medal match, while Dominican Republic won the bronze; competing as juniors, the team of Abernathy, Bass and Scudner won gold against the team from Puerto Rico.
In the mixed team event, the compounds ruled the day, with the U.S. team of Abernathy and Carli Cochran (Willow Street, PA) winning gold versus Argentina, while Dominican Republic ended with the bronze. For the recurve mixed team, it was Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Argentina winning gold, silver and bronze, respectively.
The team was coached to podium finishes by Linda Beck, Jim Pruitte and Rich Cockrell; Kathy Adams served as Team Leader. USA Archery thanks the Easton Foundations for its generous support of the U.S. team at this World Ranking Event.
Author's note: Due to an error in results published by the event hosts, the qualifying round and FITA ranking results for the recurve women were incorrectly reported earlier this week. The correct results are: Holly Stover, medaling at 50 and 30 meters, achieved the top finish in the FITA round. She was followed by Shannon Ostling, who medaled at 60 meters to take the silver in the FITA round, and Mackenzie Brown, who medaled at 70m for third in the FITA.
< Back to All News
