RICHMOND, VA – The first of two days of 72 arrows of qualification opened the 137th USA Archery Target Nationals in hot, humid and sunny weather. Nearly 450 archers are at Dorey Park for this annual event that culminates the race for national ranking points for the recurve and compound archers.
Headlining the compound master men’s field, Tim Gillingham broke the world record (pending official verification) with a 710/720, commenting earlier in the day to Competition Archery Media: “The battle begins now.”
Steve Marsh, who leads the compound senior men with a 707, just one point ahead of Tate Morgan and James Lutz, with 9 men breaking the 700 mark today. “Today felt great, I was just trusting my shot and putting the pin in the middle,” commented Marsh. “Couldn’t ask for better weather today to start off outdoor nationals.”
Casey Kaufhold was the standout on the women’s field, scoring a 672 to lead qualification with a 31-point margin that will be hard to catch. Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez, Gabrielle Sasai and Mackenzie brown are just one point apart each in the next three spots.
Kaufhold is one of several archers who’s equipment did not arrive for the event, but she was able to pull together a set up: “Today was really good, I kind of went into it without expectations because I’m shooting a bow I’ve never shot before,” shared Kaufhold. “I put together some spare parts and went into it knowing I all I could do is shoot strong shots and have fun and that’s what I did and I’m really proud of how I did with that.”
John Demmer III is up 27 points on the barebow men’s field with a 656 and Claire Xie and Vijaya Lakshmi Gottapu are running away from the women’s pack with a 606 and 602 respectively.
Brady Ellison posted a 685 for a 7-point lead in the recurve senior men, ahead of Jack Williams and Joonsuh Oh. Toja Ellison scored a 704 to lead the compound senior women ahead of Linda-Ochoa Anderson and Savannah Vanderwier.
Janis Grellner is staging a coup on the recurve master women’s division that has been led by Tatyana Muntyan much of this season, pulling ahead with a 634 qualification score and a 17-point lead. Larry Anderson is the big standout on the recurve master 70+ men’s field, nearly 100 points ahead of the competition, in an impressively sizeable group.
Jennifer Stoner leads the barebow master women with a 587. In a growing barebow field, Stoner shared: “It was a great day for archery, and it is so nice to be back and to see friends and all these new faces. I’m really happy with how I shot today and I’m looking forward to the rest of the weekend.”
The day continued with a fun mixed team event and competition resumes tomorrow with the second qualification day. Complete results are available on Between Ends and photos are on USA Archery’s SmugMug. The U.S. Open senior gold medal matches will be live streamed via Competition Archery Media on Saturday at 2:30pm ET.
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