PHOENIX, Arizona - Following the first nomination shoot for the 2016 U.S. Paralympic Team Trials last Friday, archers from around the world competed in head to head matches for world ranking this morning.
National Para Head Coach Randi Smith was proud of the level of talent on the field: "I think it's great, it's really nice to have our team get to compete against some high talent and to see them do as well as they did."
The U.S. men swept the compound open podium with Matt Stutzman taking gold in a 145-140 win over Ben Thompson, and Andre Shelby clinched bronze over Sam Boyles 145-139.
"The conditions were very good to shoot in and I had a great day," commented W1 top finisher and Paralympic Champion Jeff Fabry. Speaking to his focus for the day Fabry shared that he was working on: "Pushing to the target and get off the mouth tab the same every time." World Champion Jerry Shields had a solid 130-121 win over Chuck Lear for bronze in the W1 bracket.
Kinga Kiss-Johnson was the sole U.S. archer to make the recurve open women's podium finishing with silver in a close match with Brazil's Fabiola Lorenzi Dergovics. Natalie Wells finished 4th just behind her Mongolian competitor.
The recurve open men's podium was also decked in stars and stripes as Timothy "Doorstop" Palumbo took gold and Michael Lukow finished with bronze. "I'm happy with how it went," commented Palumbo. "I was not expecting to win with how I was shooting - it was a little bit of luck and reading the wind right. Heading into Costa Rica, it was a bit of a confidence booster, hopefully I'll shoot really well there too."
Complete results from today can be found here. To join the action, use hashtag #ParaWRE. For more, follow USA Archery on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
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