TORONTO, Canada - The US men's team had every right to great confidence as they stepped onto the field at the Pan American Games this morning. With a new team qualification Games record for the trio and a new individual Games record for Zach Garrett (Wellington, Missouri), the men were poised for great success.
Brady Ellison (Globe, Arizona) met a tough match in the start of the 1/8th shooting against Elias Malave of Venezuela. Ellison took an early 3-1 lead, but suddenly dropped the lead to a 5-3 trail. Ellison, the comeback king, shot a 29 to tie up the match, and then a perfect 10 in the shoot off to clinch the win.
"I was disappointed with my performance and just decided I was going to do it on the one arrow shoot off. After that, I did a much better job of reading the wind and shot well and went 6-0," commented Ellison on the impressive finish and his following knockout win in the quarterfinals.
Garrett posted strong scores throughout the morning, winning each successive match without ever conceding more than two points.
Collin Klimitchek (Victoria, Texas) crushed his first match with a 7-1 win over Felipe Perez Alvarez of Chile. Klimitchek was then stopped in the 1/8th by experienced Olympian Jay Lyon of Canada.
Garrett, Ellison and Khatuna Lorig (West Hollywood, California) will shoot for individual medals Saturday. First, competition resumes tomorrow morning with the team round. With the men's team seeded first and the women seeded second, the US archers are in good form for some serious hardware wins.
Complete schedules for the week and results from today can be found here. For more updates from the field, follow USA Archery on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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