TLAXCALA, Mexico – USA’s archery team once again topped the medal standings at the Pan American Championships, leaving with 16 of the 36 medals available, including eight of the 12 gold on offer.
Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez followed up her success at the Easton Foundations SoCal Showdown with gold in recurve women, leading a U.S. one-two as Casey Kaufhold took silver (pictured). She has enjoyed numerous titles as part of the recurve women or recurve mixed team, but this was a first individual success for Mucino-Fernandez at an international competition.
Mucino-Fernandez and Kaufhold were joined by Olivia Martin to take team honors in recurve women, as the U.S. women retained their title. Recurve men improved on their bronze from 2024 in taking gold, with the team consisting of Nicholas D’Amour, Brady Ellison and Christian Stoddard.
Alexis Ruiz and Gaius Carter managed individual golds in compound women and men respectively. Ruiz also stood atop the podium, alongside James Lutz, in compound mixed team, thereby successfully defending two of the three titles she claimed two years ago.
She said after wins over top seed Alejandra Usquiano (COL) in the semifinals and Sara Lopez (COL) in the final, “I had some tough matches today, but I was able to maintain my focus throughout both matches and I’m so happy to be bringing home the gold medal!”
Carter (pictured above) showed incredible nerve to land a maximum with his final three rows, and then watched as the vastly experienced and three-time former champion, Roberto Hernandez (ESA), could only manage a nine with his final arrow, handing the impressive Carter victory 149-148!
Carter and Lutz were part of the compound men’s team to win gold, with Louis Price the third member of that golden success. Their qualification score of 2130 set a new Championship record, beating the previous best by five points. For Carter, individual and team gold marked a significant milestone, being his first international success in a major tournament!
Ava Jones (pictured) set a new competition record in barebow women qualification, shooting 624. The previous record sat at 606. The 18-year-old went on to win her first major international title, defeating teammate and defending champion Cindy Czako in the gold medal match. Elizabeth Howe took bronze. Michael Weaver and Binh Tran collected silver and bronze in barebow men.
Two years ago, when the event was held in Medellin, Colombia, the USA won 12 medals, of which seven were gold, two silver and three bronze. This time around, 16 medals were won, consisting of eight gold, four silver and four bronze.
< Back to All News
