SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – USAT Qualifier Series Stage #2 is officially in the books after the youth and para youth wrapped up proceedings on Sunday afternoon at the Easton Foundations Salt Lake Summit, following on from the seniors, para and 50+ archers a week earlier.
Of those making it two wins from the first two USAT Qualifier Series events of the year were Ethan Chan (recurve U21 men), Harley Montgomery (barebow U18 women) and Brody Terry (compound U15 men). That trio had each previously won gold at last month's Easton Foundations Gator Cup.
Gold medal matches were spread across Saturday and Sunday. Among the 12 divisions decided on Saturday were tense outcomes to both U21 and U15 compound women, with both decided by a one arrow shootoff.
Second seed Beretta McKee narrowly defeated top seed Savannah O’Donohue in compound U21 women. The pair were locked at 146-146 after five ends, with McKee’s additional single arrow landing gold.
Elsewhere, Kayzlee Carter won on home soil despite trailing through the first four ends. By shooting a 29 in the final end – her best three arrows of the match – the 13-year-old leveled the scores at 139 apiece. Even after each archer had sent down their one arrow in the shootoff, the naked eye could not determine the winner. The judge required calipers to make the decision, with victory going to the local talent.
In fixed pins U15 women, the two archers were separated by 20 points after qualification, but a sudden-death shootoff was still needed to decide the medals. Georgia Glitsos won gold, and Aarna Gupta took silver.
In front of many family members, Brody Wonch claimed compound U21 men, coming from behind on Sunday afternoon to defeat Suraj Nalam, the man who had beaten him to gold in Florida. The pair were locked at 113-113 after the fourth end, before Wonch landed 28 to Nalam’s 27 for a 141-140 triumph.
Parker Smathers was again top seed after qualification in compound U18 men and confirmed his position with a 141-138 win over Simyn Poirier in the gold medal match, to go with the bronze he enjoyed at Gator Cup.
It was a similar tale for Henry Kim in recurve U18 men. Number one seed and bronze medalist in Newberry, he was seeded four and took gold in Salt Lake City.
Hailey Franzone (pictured) upgraded her bronze from USAT #1 in recurve U21 women with gold. Her performance proved too much for Eleanor Corzine, who had booked her match on the finals field with a shootoff win over Anushka Nag in the semifinals.
And in the all-Colorado clash between Kyler Clark and Griffin Witty, gold went to Clark in fixed pins U21 men. Witty was another seeking back-to-back USAT Qualifier Series success, having triumphed at Gator Cup.
There is a full list of scores and results from Salt Lake City, while action photos and podium pictures can be found here.
< Back to All News
