|
|
USA Archery Announces 2004 Athletes/Team of the Year
|
by Mary Beth Vorwerk – USA Archery
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 5, 2005
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The 2004 USA Archery Athletes of the Year and Team of the Year have been selected with Vic Wunderle being named Male Athlete of the Year and Jennifer Nichols taking the Female Athlete of the Year honor. Winning the Team of the Year award is the 2004 Men’s Olympic Archery Team.
Wunderle (Mason City, Ill.), a two-time Olympian (2000 individual silver and team bronze medalist), is currently ranked number one in the U.S. for the Senior Male Recurve Division and is a member of the 2005 United States Archery Team (USAT). In 2004, Wunderle won a team gold medal at the Italian Grand Prix, finished in first place at the Olympic Trials and was the highest individual finisher for the U.S. Archery Team at the Olympic Games in Athens, taking eighth place. Wunderle was also a member of the Men’s Olympic Team that took fourth place in the team event. This is the fourth time Wunderle has received the Male Athlete of the Year honor, winning previously in 1994, 1999 and 2000.
Number one ranked nationally in the Senior Female Recurve Division, 21-one-year-old Nichols (Cheyenne, Wyo.) is receiving the Female Athlete of the Year Honor for the second year in a row. In 2004, Nichols was the Arizona Cup International Champion, the National Indoor and National Outdoor Champion and finished first at the Olympic Trials. At the Olympic Games in Athens, Nichols finished in ninth place individually. Nichols is also a member of the 2005 USAT.
The 2004 Men’s Olympic Archery Team consisting of Wunderle, four-time Olympian Butch Johnson (Woodstock, Conn.) and John Magera (Carterville, Ill.) gave an impressive performance in the team event in Athens, finishing in fourth place. After knocking off Sweden, then number one ranked Italy, the U.S. men lost a close match to second ranked Chinese Taipei by one point in the semifinals. Winning that match would have secured either a gold or silver medal. In the bronze medal match, the U.S. lost to Ukraine by two points, taking fourth place.
The 2004 USA Archery Athletes of the Year and Team of the Year have been submitted to the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the overall USOC Athletes/Team of the Year will be decided in the coming months.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
