LINCOLN, Nebraska – It was only fitting that a record-setting WIAWIS JOAD Target Nationals and JOAD U.S. Open included record performances, which were duly delivered during four days of outstanding competition.
Two new world records were set, pending verification, in JOAD Target Nationals. Aarya Arun set a new marker in recurve U18 men, with Chloe Nelsen claiming a world best in compound U18 women.
Arun topped the previous double 60 meters round (2x72 arrows) world record by 22 points. The record, held by Joonsuh Oh (USA) since the 2019 JOAD Target Nationals in Raleigh, N.C., had stood at 1350. Arun swept past that with an emphatic score of 1372.
Nelsen extended the compound U18 women world record by two points. The previous mark of 1401 for double 50-meter rounds (2x72 arrows) was registered by Liko Arreola (USA) at JOAD Target Nationals in Decatur, AL four years ago. Nelsen managed 1403.
Along with his world record and national title, Arun’s performance also confirmed him as one of the two athletes set to represent the USA at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal later this year. He is joined on the team by Ye-eun Whang, who took JOAD Target Nationals gold in recurve U18 women by 17 points.
In all, there were more than 940 archers competing in Lincoln, making it not only the largest JOAD Target Nationals and JOAD U.S. Open in terms of participants, but it was also the best-attended event ever hosted by USA Archery and comes in a year in which many events within the USAT Qualifier Series have also seen significant growth.
Nelsen was among a number of young archers who enjoyed double gold in their division, with victory in the JOAD U.S. Open. This elimination-style competition was spread across two days as extreme heat in Lincoln forced a delay to the Saturday afternoon session, with archers shooting in much cooler, damper conditions earlier in the week.
The compound U18 archer, though, needed a shootoff to shake off Khloe Markle and add U.S. Open glory to her national title and world record.
Sykes Lamensdorf (barebow U18 men) was another double gold winner taken to a shootoff. The national champion fought back against second seed Albert Fu to force a single arrow decider.
Alina Cornick left it late as she also made it back-to-back gold medals in Lincoln. Trailing Delana Puryear by four points in fixed pins U15 women heading into the fourth end, Cornick finished with two maximum scores as the two archers managed a total of 143, with the national champion becoming U.S. Open champion via a shootoff.
There were impressive scores from both Ryley Sheu and Marisol Hwang in recurve U13 women. Each only dropped a single point in their five ends – Hwang in the first end and Sheu in the final end – with Sheu another national champion needing a shootoff to also claim the U.S. Open crown.
Mason Springer and James Zeng each scored 148 in their compound U18 men gold medal match. Springer it was, though, who won the shootoff allowing him to return home as JOAD Target Nationals and JOAD U.S. Open champion.
Easton Terry made no mistake on his way to double gold. Having won JOAD Target Nationals in compound U21 men, Terry scored 150 in the U.S. Open gold medal match to leave Lincoln a double champion. Younger brother Brody matched his sibling’s score of 150 in securing gold in compound U18 men, having taken silver in the JOAD Target Nationals.
Other double champions included Vivian Wong (recurve U15 women), Savannah O’Donohue (compound U21 women), Harper Ferguson (compound U15 women), Nash Cullen (compound U13 men), Wesley Frevert (barebow U15 men), Ashwath Manu (barebow U13 women), Ilina Upadhyaya (barebow U13 women) and Griffin Witty (fixed pins U21 men).
You can check all the results from Lincoln, as well as photos from each session.
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