LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In a division packed with youth, experience and talent, compound archers Isaac Sullivan and Paige Pearce will this week be pushed to the limit as they seek to retain their USA Archery Indoor Nationals Final title claimed 12 months ago.
For Sullivan, his was a first win in his first appearance. For Pearce, her success was a fourth in five years. The field assembled around both of these defending champions is incredibly impressive.
Pearce turns 29 next week. Aside from her and 24-year-old Alexis Ruiz, the other six archers are all in their teens, and include 13-year-old Chloe Nelsen, 17-year-old former champion Olivia Dean and last year’s bronze medalist, 16-year-old Liko Arreola.
The compound women’s lineup is completed by Samantha Roberts, a freshman at William Carey University and a back-to-back winner at Gator Cup in the U18 compound women (2022) and U21 compound women (2023) category, as well as two more 16-year-olds in Kaylee Gurney and Beretta McKee.
Despite her young age, Gurney has previous experience at the Indoor Nationals Final. A junior at high school in Utah, Gurney reached the Final in 2022, losing in the quarterfinals to Arreola.
Winners the last two years, Pearce and Dean, meet in the quarterfinals. Their half of the bracket includes Nelsen and Roberts. Arreola and Gurney meet in their first match, with the winner tackling either Ruiz or McKee.
Since his win in 2023, against Kris Schaff – who misses out this year – Sullivan has enjoyed collegiate success with the University of the Cumberlands. He was also a medalist with the USA at the World Archery Youth Championship in Limerick, Ireland.
Schaff may be absent from the 2024 lineup but former world number one Dave Cousins returns. He was beaten in the semifinals 12 months ago by Schaff. Also back inside the Kentucky International Convention Center will be Carson Sapp, who lost to Cousins in the bronze medal match last year.
En route to the semifinals, Sapp defeated second seed Sawyer Sullivan. Texas A&M University student Sullivan (no relation to Isaac) went on to have an outstanding 2023, which included team gold at the World Archery Championships, individual silver and two team silver in four World Cup appearances, plus individual silver at the Pan American Games in Chile.
The collegiate scene will be well represented in Louisville. As well as Isaac and Sawyer Sullivan there will be Parker Baker, a sophomore at Union College in Barbourville, Ky. who is fresh from winning the men’s open division at the Lancaster Archery Classic. Elsewhere, Jeremiah Foster, a Kentucky native, graduates high school in May. He scored just two points less than Cousins during Indoor Nationals. Cousins will be seeded three on Thursday and Foster is eight.
Tate Morgan is another compound archer with bags of experience. The 30-year-old was a gold medalist at the 2020 Indoor World Series and a member of the USAT team in 2022 that won bronze at World Cup Stage 4 in Medellin. He is back among the final eight after losing to Schaff in the quarterfinals of the 2022 edition.
The youngest archer among the compound men is 15-year-old Caleb Quiocho, who is the second seed after shooting 1191 in Indoor Nationals. He makes his Indoor Nationals Final debut, starting with a quarterfinal match against Morgan.
Isaac Sullivan begins against Foster, with Sawyer Sullivan or Sapp awaiting in the semifinal. In other half of the bracket, the winner of Quiocho against Morgan will meet either Cousins or Baker.
The gold medal matches will be streamed live via Competition Archery Media and on USA’s Archery Facebook page on Thursday, March 14, from 5pm ET.
With generous support from Black Eagle Arrows, Conquest Archery and Darton Archery (compound division), Lancaster Archery Supply (barebow division) and T.R.U. Ball/AXCEL (recurve division), the total prize purse for this event will be more than $70,000, with payouts to all places.
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