August 27, 2020

How to Follow the Buckeye Classic

DUBLIN, Ohio – USA Archery kicks off the 2020 United States Archery Team (USAT) Qualifier Series with the Buckeye Classic, the first of three stops on the schedule this year. The season, which now starts around the time it usually ends because of COVID-19 postponements, is going on as planned with extra safety precautions in place. Following the success of USA Archery’s 136^th Target Nationals earlier this month, archers are thrilled to be back in the swing of competition and together on the field again.

1. How to Follow: Between Ends – Live scores all weekend will be available on betweenends.com. Archers can also check there for target assignments and elimination brackets. Check out our online photo gallery and join the conversation this weekend with #BuckeyeClassic.
2. New 2020 Schedule – This event features a schedule change from last year’s USAT events; senior and masters division archers have official practice Friday morning, qualification midday, and then eliminations Saturday afternoon. Juniors and cadets practice Friday afternoon, then qualify Saturday morning and shoot eliminations Sunday morning. This schedule change will allow future live streaming of the senior gold medal matches, a plan that will be implemented at this year’s remaining USAT events, and when safe, will encourage younger archers to come out and enjoy watching the seniors compete in their head-to-head match play.
3. Safety Precautions – USA Archery and the Buckeye Classic Event Organizers are following local and state public health guidelines to ensure a safe event for all involved. Everyone who enters the venue must go through a temperature check and daily health survey. Archers are safe distanced to two archers per target, shooting one archer per line, and targets are 9’ apart to allow for staggered distancing when scoring and pulling arrows. Masks are encouraged when not shooting. Bottled water is provided instead of shared drinking stations, but archers and spectators must supply their own ice or coolers. There are enhanced sanitization protocols throughout the venue and increased presence of sanitization stations. Coaches and spectators are also asked to socially distance and are relegated to a safe distanced area from the archers.
4. 2021 USAT – Archers at this weekend’s event are vying for top honors, prize money, Champions Purse payouts, and ranking points towards qualification for the 2021 USAT. USAT qualification procedures have been updated in light of COVID-19, and international team selection procedures are largely frozen to use rankings as of 12/31/19.
5. World Records – Despite almost a year-long break since the 2019 outdoor target event season, USA Archery saw a tremendous number of new world records set at Outdoor Nationals. Archers seem to have used the break to get even better, stronger and more focused for this season and we are thrilled to see top notch performances. While we may not have the weather for records this weekend, we’ll keep our fingers crossed for personal bests and great experiences all around. The Buckeye Classic is registered with World Archery as a World Ranking Event, as are all USAT events this season!