SANTIAGO, Chile – A Pan American Games record, three gold medals and four silvers were just reward for Team USA’s outstanding archers on Saturday.
The Games record was struck by the compound women’s team of Olivia Dean and Alexis Ruiz. They shot a perfect 160 in their victory over Colombia.
Ruiz also walked off with a couple of silver medals, one in a nail-biting individual compound women's event - in which she lost out to Dafne Quintero (MEX) 147-145 - and the other alongside Kris Schaff in another battle with Colombia.
Schaff and Sawyer Sullivan also struck silver in the compound men’s event, losing 158-156 to El Salvador. Sullivan snatched his second silver of the day in the final match. He was edged 145-144 by Jean Pizarro (PUR).
The other two gold medals were won in the recurve division. Catalina GNoriega, Casey Kaufhold and Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez defeated Mexico 5-1. The men’s team of Brady Ellison, Jackson Mirich and Jack Williams took top honors with a 6-2 success over Mexico.
The archery competition concludes on Sunday morning with more medal opportunities for the USA. Ellison and Kaufhold combine in the day’s second match and the recurve mixed team decider. A win against Brazil would also secure a quota slot for the men at the Olympic Games in Paris next year.
The USA can also guarantee that crucial slot should either Ellison or Mirich win through their individual semifinal matches. Ellison tackles Matias Grande (MEX), with Mirich up against Ricardo Soto (CHI). Those matches will follow Kaufhold’s recurve women’s semifinal against Ana Machado (MEX).
