CHULA VISTA, California –SoCal Showdown qualification began today with some wind and clouds before the sun came out for a beautiful afternoon. USAT-record shattering 600 plus archers brought their A-game and many new personal bests and a few national records were set in a fun day of competition.
Coming off the World Archery and Para Championships in the Netherlands the past few weeks, World Champion Brady Ellison led the senior recurve men’s qualifications. Just behind Ellison on the recurve side was Youth Olympic Champion Trenton Cowles, who scored a tournament personal best of 671.
“So far this SoCal, I’m pretty happy with how I’m doing,” shared Cowles. “Today I shot my heart out, shot a personal best. I’ve improved ten points every tournament so far this year, I’m super excited and ready for the rest of the year.”
All three Para women set new personal bests, with Lia Coryell and Martha Chavez breaking national records, and Emma Rose Ravish beating her best score by over 40 points.
Chavez, who scored a compound open women’s record 654, shared: “I shot my elite score and a personal best, so it was a great day. I made a few changes since the Netherlands, including an arrow length change and adding a kisser button and my score went up more than 50 points in a week. I surprised myself, but it’s a good surprise.”
Coryell’s 602 broke her own W1 record: “It’s an awesome day for the para women’s team. We struggled at Worlds and came back, dug deep and were tough, strong and resilient and we proved that today. We rock.”
Whitney Jensen topped the recurve junior women’s qualification with a personal best 614: “It was really fun playing with the wind today. I told myself, ‘I’m going to master the wind, the wind is my friend.’ It was a big mental breakthrough for me so to see my hard work pay off means a lot.”
Live results from the SoCal Showdown are available here. Competition resumes tomorrow with elimination matches. Photos are posted daily to USA Archery’s photo site. For more, follow USA Archery on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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