Merliot City, El Salvador - American archers at the XX Pan American Championships have found success in the first days of competition at this World Ranking Event. The event, which kicked off with a one-day World Archery four-distance round (FITA round) saw eight U.S. archers place overall in that round, plus five team medals for the American squad, which included U.S. Archery Team members, Junior Dream Team members, and three additional U.S. archers.
Recurve cadet men: Colin Klimitchek (TX) and Eliot Simon (NY) shot category-leading scores of 1293 and 1257. They were joined in the top three by Guatemala's Edgar Romero with a 1255. Other U.S. entrants in this category included Daniel Cunningham (CA) in 7th and John Pooley (MA) in 8th. The team of Klimitchek, Simon and Cunningham is seeded second.
In Olympic Round match play on Friday, reports from the field indicate gold and bronze medal victories for Klimitchek and Simon, though Friday scores are not yet available.
Recurve junior women: it was a first place finish for Olympic Hopeful Mackenzie Brown (TX), who shot 1271 for the gold medal. She was followed by Mexico's Mariana Garcia and Ana Bayardo with their scores of 1270 and 1266. USA's Lauren Clamon (CA), LaNola Pritchard (CA) and Heather Trafford (LA) finished in 4th, 6th and 10th places, respectively. Brown, Clamon and Pritchard earned a number one team qualification as well.
In Friday's match play, Brown took a bronze medal win, and Clamon went on to win her gold medal match.
Recurve junior men: It was an all-Mexico top three, with Ernesto Boardman, Hector Sansores and Oldair Zamora leading the pack, hitting scores of 1293, 1279 and 1274. U.S. entrants included Sean McLaughlin (OH), and Matthew Zumbo (CA), finishing seventh and eighth.
McLaughlin went on to a silver medal win in individual match play on Friday.
Recurve women: World Champion Denisse Van Lamoen (CHI) hit a solid 1333 for the top spot, while Colombia's Ana Maria Rendon shot a 1326 for second. They were followed by Leidys Brito, shooting a 1285 in third. There were no U.S. entrants in this category.
Brown, Clamon, Pritchard and Trafford went on to compete in the recurve women's Olympic Round match play. Brown, byed into the 1/8, was eliminated in a shutout by twelfth-seeded Natalia Sanchez (COL). Trafford and Pritchard were stopped in the 1/16 by Lya Solano (DOM) and Fernanda Faisal (ARG). Clamon advanced after a 1/8 victory, but finished in the 1/8 after an 0-6 match with Virginia Conti (ARG). Van Lamoen, Rendon and Brito took gold, silver and bronze.
Recurve men: Venezuela's Elias Malave finished on top with 1299, but he was followed by USA's Dan Schuller (PA) and Nick Kale (MA) with 1282 and 1277 respectively. Jeff Anderson (WA) and Peter Kelchner (NM) also competed, ending in fourth and seventh places respectively. Schuller's, Kale's and Anderson's scores ranked the team first in qualifications.
In match play, Anderson and McLaughlin were stopped in the 1/8, while Kale, Schuller and Kelchner advanced to the quarterfinals. Kale was unable to overtake Sansores, and Schuller edged out Kelchner for a spot in the semis. Though Schuller lost his semifinal match 0-6 to eventual gold medalist Boardman, Schuller was able to claim a 6-0 bronze medal match win versus Sansores.
Compound cadet men: USA's Spencer Yee (AZ), reportedly just ten years old, won the four-distance round in his category with a 1304. He was followed by Guatemala's Diego Miguel Escobar, shooting 1304, and Jose Maria Gamboa (CRC), hitting 1159.
Yee went on to his own gold medal victory on Friday, apparently with his backup bow.
Compound women: Olga Bosch (VEN), Linda Ochoa (MEX) and Ana Mendoza (VEN) led the compound women's group with 1390, 1388 and 1386. Team USA's Samantha Neal (NY) was fourth, followed by Paige Pearce (CA) in sixth, Sarah Lance (MI) in eighth, and Brittany Lorenti (CT) in twelfth. Together, the U.S. team qualified second.
Lance may have qualified eighth, but she managed to pull off a silver medal win, taking four matches to earn her berth to the final versus gold medalist Ana Mendoza (VEN). USA's Lorenti pulled through to the 1/8 but was unable to stop eventual bronze medalist Alejandra Usquiano (COL), who eventually defeated U.S. teammate Neal in the quarters. Pearce also finished in the 1/8, by just a point to Ana Crisanto (MEX).
Compound men: Jorge Jimenez of El Salvador put the home court advantage to the test, hitting a 1398 for the top spot. USA's Rodger Willett, Jr. (VA) followed in second with his own 1396. Duane Price (WI) was just four points behind with a 1392 in the third position. Henry Bass (UT) finished in fourth, helping the team to a first place qualification.
In match play, Bass was stopped in the 1/8 round by Hafid Jaime (MEX), while Price and Willett went on to the quarterfinals. In the quarters, Willett and Price dropped six points each, not quite enough to stop Leandro Rojas (VEN) and Roberto Hernandez (ESA). Ultimately, Hernandez and Jimenez won gold and silver, while Rojas clinched bronze.
The event continues with team rounds. USA Archery is providing Twitter coverage as updates become available; event photos are posted on USA Archery's Facebook page. Complete results through Thursday are available by clicking here.
Note: As of posting on Friday at 4 pm EDT, complete and official results were only available for the multi-distance and adult elimination round matches only. The brief results for junior and cadet elimination rounds are based on reports from the field and should be considered unofficial.
< Back to All News
