USA Poised for Success in Pan Am Games’ Elimination Rounds
OutdoorHub 10.19.11
Guadalajara, Mexico – Brady Ellison (Glendale, AZ) was unstoppable during the second half of the four-distance qualification round today, setting a new Pan Am Games record with his number one qualification round score of 1356, as well as his second distance record of the event, a 359 at 30 meters. With his score, Ellison propelled the U.S. men’s recurve team to a number one ranking and a Pan Am Games team qualification record score of 3985.
Despite weather conditions that coaches deemed questionable this morning, Miranda Leek (Des Moines, IA) shot well enough at 30 meters today to claim her second individual record of the event. Leek also broke her second and third Star FITA (U.S.) records of the week with her score of 356 and her overall score of 1361. Leek’s final finish qualified her in the second spot for women, behind Mexico’s Alejandra Valencia, who posted a 1361.
On the men’s side, Canada’s Crispin Duenas came from behind to finish in the second position with 1337; he was just ahead of Daniel Pineda (COL) with a 1333. Team USA archers Joe Fanchin (Oceanside, CA) and Jake Kaminski (Elma, NY) ended their day in fifth and tenth, shooting 1324 and 1305 respectively.
Kaminski expressed disappointment in his inability to practice the format of this four-distance round: “[I] wish I would have actually been able to prepare for this event; I haven’t shot a FITA event since USA Archery National Target Championships,” he noted, citing preparation for the first stage of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, a 70 meter event.
For the women, Khatuna Lorig (West Hollywood, CA) shot her way into a fourth place ranking after ending in fifth yesterday. Shooting a 1326, she was the second highest finisher for the Team USA women; teammate Heather Koehl (Sheboygan Falls, WI) took tenth with her score of 1269.
The action heats up in Guadalajara tomorrow as elimination round match play for teams and individuals begins. Follow USA Archery on Twitter and Facebook for updates and more: http://www.twitter.com/usaarchery and http://www.facebook.com/usaarchery. Complete results are available at http://www.archery.org.