Photo by World Archery
LAC LA BICHE, Canada. – An impressive haul of five gold, five silver and six bronze medals were won by the USA over the weekend at the World Archery Field Championships, including a third win in a row for Paige Pearce.
Brady Ellison added the 2024 title in recurve men to those claimed in 2014 and 2016, Fawn Girard won barebow gold for the USA for the first time since Becky Nelson-Harris in 2008, while Dewey Hathaway returns home with double gold. He won the individual compound U21 men as well as in the compound U21 mixed team alongside Rendyn Brooks.
“I wanted to do the three-peat so bad,” Pearce told Archery+ television. “I wanted that probably more than I’ve said because I didn’t want to build the pressure, so it feels amazing.”
Pearce, the top seed, defeated teammate Makenna Proctor on her way to gold in compound women. Proctor finished sixth overall. The gold medal match was against second seed Amanda Mlinaric (CRO), the mixed team bronze medalist from two years ago in Yankton, S.D., with Pearce triumphing 66-62.
Pearce was also part of the women’s team of Girard and Alex Zuletta-Visser that took silver. They were denied gold after a shootoff with Italy. A shootoff also settled the compound mixed team title, with Pearce taking silver on that occasion, also, alongside Eli Hughes.
Ellison had his mom in the coach’s box for his gold medal match, which he won 60-52 against 15th seed Ryan Tyack (AUS). Matt Nofel followed up his silver from 2022 with bronze, coming back against Patrick Huston (GBR) to win a one arrow shootoff.
For Ellison, this was a return to the top of the podium at the World Field Championships for the first time in eight years, made extra special with family right behind him.
“It was awesome to have my mom in the box,” Ellison began. “She’s been traveling with us and taking care of the grand-babies and doing all that for so long.”
With his voice breaking, an emotional Ellison added, “The only way we could get her on the field and get her access was to give her a coaching credential, and since she had the credential, I wanted her to be at my back and it’s the first time she got to stand behind me, so it’s pretty cool.”
Girard was equally emotional after taking gold in the barebow women’s division, with a 46-42 win over Argentine archer Claudia Noemí Carcacha.
She finished fourth in Yankton in 2022. Her first appearance at the World Field Championships, in Italy in 2018, ended with a silver medal. She lost the gold medal match on that occasion after a shootoff but made no mistake in Canada.
This ended a 16-year wait for the USA in the barebow discipline. It marked a first barebow gold at the World Field Championships since 2008 and only the third since 1974, when Eunice Schewe took the honors. Girard also won barebow mixed team silver with Ryan Davis.
Hathaway added double gold at the World Field Championships to the two golds won at last year’s World Youth Championships. He first won compound U21 mixed team gold with Brooks on Saturday. Brooks sealed success with the six needed for victory from her final arrow to give the USA an 88-87 win over Italy.
This was followed on Sunday with Hathaway defeating Fabio Aloisi 69-66. Aloisi was part the Italian mixed team beaten by Hathaway and Brooks a day earlier. Grady Kane finished fourth in the compound U21 men.
Brooks also took bronze in the individual compound U21 women, defeating teammate Lilie Aguilar 66-58. There was an all-American bronze medal match in the recurve U21 women, which went the way of Hailey Franzone. She edged Abigail Kippes 48-44.
There was a silver and bronze for the USA in the barebow U21 women, courtesy of Jaelyn Coleman and Tessa Hogan. Coleman, Brooks and Franzone were silver medalists in the women U21 team event. Franzone and Ashton Probus were bronze medal winners in recurve U21 mixed team. Coleman and Luke Thornsbury added bronze in the barebow U21 mixed team.
Asked what impact field archery has on the sport, Pearce commented, “Field is incredible for so many different reasons. Field teaches you how to do everything well.
“You’ve got to deal with changing sun, angles, sidehill, uphill, downhill, learning to judge distance, building a sight tape, proper form up and down, leveling your sight – there’s so much technical stuff, that if you shoot field and you can master this game, it’s so easy to go back and shoot target or shoot indoor.
“It applies to everything and it will make you a better and stronger all-around archer.”
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