MEDELLIN, Colombia – The USA’s compound women produced some stunning shooting on Wednesday as they fired their way through to the gold medal match in the team competition on day two of the World Cup Stage 3 in Medellin.
This feat is even more impressive when you consider that two of the three US archers are making their World Cup debut and the third has just recently completed nursing studies.
The two debutants are Liko Arreola and Olivia Dean. Arreola is 15 years of age; Dean is 16! The third team member is 23-year-old Alexis Ruiz, the compound women’s winner at last weekend’s SoCal Showdown and someone who has had to put archery on the backburner while studying.
Starting out as the fourth seed, the USA defeated Chinese Taipei 232-226 in the quarterfinals, to set up a last four meeting with top seeds India. Both teams scored 232, with the USA edging through following a three-arrow shoot-off 29-28.
Host nation Colombia, the number two seed, awaits in Saturday’s final.
The recurve competition began on Wednesday afternoon, with top 10 finishes for Brady Ellison and Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez in qualification. Ellison shot 680 in the men’s division, which was good enough for ninth, with Mucino-Fernandez fifth after a 673.
The women’s team are seeded four and will consist of Mucino-Fernandez, Casey Kaufhold and Catalina GNoriega. They face either Spain or Dominican Republic on Thursday in the last 16.
The recurve men are eighth seeds, with Ellison joined by Jack Williams and Gabriel Anderson. They start their push for gold on Thursday against Mexico.
The recurve mixed team of Ellison and Mucino-Fernandez were placed third and start against Romania or Brazil on Friday.
In the individual event, recurve elimination takes place on Friday. Mucino-Fernandez meets Sylwia Zyzanska of Poland, Kaufhold faces another Polish archer in Natalia Lesniak and GNoriega tackles Lucilla Boari of Italy.
For the men, Ellison’s first opponent on Friday is Colombian Daniel Betancur, while Gabriel Anderson takes on Tarundeep Rai of India, Jackson Mirich goes against Monty Orton of Great Britain, and Jack Williams starts against Turkish archer Abdullah Yildirmis.
There are four World Cup stages, before the final in Mexico in September. As well as Turkey, China and Colombia, there is also a stage in France.
Stage 4: Paris, France – August 15-20
Final: Hermosillo, Mexico – September 9-10
