COLLEGE STATION, Texas - With the spectre of Kyle Field looming in the distance, a record number of archers took to the field at the Texas Shootout for qualification rounds, with over 220 registered to compete. Enjoying calm, overcast skies that quickly turned to sunshine and fierce winds, archers shot a grueling 144 arrows - recurves at four distances, compounds at 50 meters - to decide championship titles for cadet archers and seed juniors and seniors for Sunday's eliminations.
Strong winds on the back half produced massive gaps in scores in categories that are usually within 1-2 points. World No. 1 Brady Ellison (AZ), for example, qualified number one in the men's recurve with a 1324 - nothing so remarkable until you consider wind gusts of 30-plus miles per hour, and the fact that he took the top spot by 22 points. Erika Jones (NE) also had her own solid lead, with a 1328 on the compound women's side, a full 18 points ahead of her closest competitor. Reo Wilde (ID) locked down number one after trailing Jesse Broadwater (PA) for much of the day, but amassed a 5 point differential to put him ahead of the second seed. And Jennifer Hardy (TX), the three-time Olympian, managed to take a whopping 25 point lead to qualify first.
While juniors and seniors are ranked together for Sunday's eliminations, cadet wins are based solely on the results of the qualification round. Dillon McMenamy (NY) shot a 1263 to win the recurve cadet men's category, while Jenna Ahn (CA) joined her Junior Dream Team teammate atop the podium, representing the recurve cadet women's group with a 1284. The compound cadet men were led by Chris Bee (MI), laying down a 1310 for the win, while Danielle Reynolds (AZ) shot a strong 1296 to clinch the title in the compound cadet women's category.
Complete results are available at http://ianseo.net/Details.php?toId=380. Follow USA Archery's finals coverage on Twitter at @usaarchery and Facebook (USA Archery). Photos from the event will be available on usarchery.org on Monday.
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