ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – At a venue which hosts the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, this year’s WIAWIS USA Archery JOAD Target Nationals & JOAD U.S. Open gets underway on Thursday with a field of almost 850 archers.
Balloon Fiesta Park will welcome more than 500 balloons in October, for an event which began with just 13 balloons in 1972. There will be an equally impressive number of young and talented archers converging on this corner of New Mexico, competing across four disciplines and four age categories for the JOAD Target Nationals & JOAD U.S. Open.
Among those returning this year is Francesca Benavidez. The New Mexico native arrived on the archery scene in Des Moines last summer when she set new world records in barebow at U18 and U21 level, just six months after taking up the sport. She will be among the favorites in the barebow U21 women.
Olivia Dean will contest the compound U18 women. The 17-year-old is a gold medal winner this year in mixed team at the Hyundai Archery World Cup Stage 2 in Korea. Kaylee Gurney is a two-time winner at USAT events in 2024, winning at Arizona Cup and SoCal Showdown, and helps make up a strong compound U18 women’s division.
And Dewey Hathaway, who won double gold at the 2023 World Archery Youth Championships in Ireland – including one in mixed team with Dean – will be one to watch in the compound U18 men.
Another local hopeful is Sergio Garcia, winner of compound U21 men at this year’s AAE Arizona Cup. Abigail Kippes, Eunice Choi and Michelle Ahn are all winners in the recurve U21 women division at the three USAT events so far this year. They are also part of a quality field going for gold in Albuquerque.
Across the board, from U13 to U21, and among barebow, compound, fixed pins and recurve, the 2024 WIAWIS USA Archery JOAD Target Nationals & JOAD U.S. Open – which runs until Sunday – is sure to highlight the depth of talent within the sport.
Keep up to date with latest scores and results on BetweenEnds. There will also be photos at the end of each session.
