CHULA VISTA, California – The youth qualification line at the SoCal Showdown this morning could not have had more perfect weather for competition. Skies were calm and sunny as a competitive field of juniors and cadets shot strong.
The recurve field was stacked with tons of impressive talent. Buckeye Classic champion Doheyon Kim ran away with the cadet men’s qualification with a 659 and a 16-point lead clear the rest of the largest division in the event. Eunice Choi and Michelle Ahn, top archers from Virginia, both posted 647s as the top women’s scores.
The junior recurve brackets also saw blowout leads as Washington archers Gabrielle Sasai and dark horse Gabe Anderson smoked top positions by more than 20 points each; Sasai scored a 622 while Anderson crushed a 328 second half to finish with 629.
Sawyer Sullivan and Harrison Milne pulled out 695s to top the compound cadet men’s field, which was as tight in scores as ever. Buckeye Classic silver medalist Makenzie Weatherspoon topped the women’s division with a 680 for another strong start.
“The weather was so good,” shared Weatherspoon. “I feel like I could have done a lot better but I was just so happy I could be out here and be shooting. It’s hard when you’ve been stuck at home and can’t do fun things like this. For a long time there, and I know I’m not the only one who felt this, but it was mentally draining to go to practice for what felt like no reason. Now, looking back, I’m super glad that I could get out there and practice and it could help me build the confidence I needed to get out here and shoot well like I wanted to.”
Riley Green took top seed for the compound junior men with a 681 and a 19-point lead over second. Kate Iodice has the women’s pole with a 667 and a 10-count tie breaker over Rachel Withers.
Competition continues this afternoon with senior and master elimination matches (through bronze medal finals for the senior divisions). Juniors and cadets compete in elimination matches later tomorrow. Complete results from today’s events and live scores throughout the weekend are available on Between Ends. Check out our online photo gallery and join the conversation this weekend with #SoCalShowdown.
The senior gold medal matches will be live streamed tomorrow, Sunday morning on USA Archery’s Facebookand YouTube starting at 8am PT.
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