CHULA VISTA, Calif. – Record books will be rewritten on Thursday when the 2026 Easton Foundations SoCal Showdown begins with Mixed Team Rounds and the start of the largest-ever USAT Qualifier Series event.
More than 850 archers have registered for the third stage of the USAT Qualifier Series, which follows the Easton Foundations Gator Cup and Easton Foundations Salt Lake Summit. The previous high for participants was set at the 2023 AAE Arizona Cup, when 792 archers featured.
This week’s event also provides a third opportunity for archers in the Senior division to push for a place in the USAT Series Final, which is offering total prize money of $50,000 and takes place in Springfield, Mo. on August 12, immediately before the USA Archery Target Nationals and U.S. Open.
The USAT Series Final will feature eight athletes per gender in Recurve, Compound, and Barebow, competing in head-to-head elimination matches following World Archery rules.
Athletes will qualify for the USAT Series Final by competing in the Senior divisions at the four 2026 USAT Series events:
They will qualify by either winning a USAT Stage (placing first in an elimination round) or by accumulating the highest USAT Series Final Placement Points across events.
You can see where archers stand at the midway point of the USAT Qualifier Series, with one more to follow after SoCal Showdown. Registration remains open for the Rebel Gear Buckeye Classic, which takes place in Dublin, Ohio from July 17-19. The early registration deadline is June 25. The registration deadline is July 3.
Twelve archers have so far qualified automatically for the USAT Series Final. They are:
MEN |
WOMEN |
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RECURVE |
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|
Marcus D’Almeida |
Casey Kaufhold |
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COMPOUND |
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|
Mike Schloesser |
Olivia Dean |
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BAREBOW |
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|
Matthew Christian |
Erin Hollom |
Mixed Team Rounds on Thursday will be followed by qualification for the U15, U18 and U21 divisions on Friday morning. Qualification for senior, 50+ and para takes place on Saturday morning.
Heading to Chula Vista, three archers have the opportunity to make it three wins in a row to start the USAT Qualifier Series, having triumphed in Florida and Utah. Among them is Jordan White (para recurve men), Harley Montgomery (barebow U18 women) and Brody Terry (compound U15 men).
Reigning champions returning to defend their SoCal Showdown title include Trenton Cowles (recurve men), Marcus Cooley (barebow men), Allen Rasor Jr. (recurve 50+ men), Nicole Rasor (recurve 50+ women), Stephen Wagner (compound 50+ men), Alanna Dunaway (compound 50+ women), Barbara Carroll (barebow 50+ women), Timothy Palumbo (para recurve men), Karen Sternfeld (para recurve women), KJ Polish (para compound men), Aarya Arun (recurve U18 men) and Anushka Nag (recurve U18 women).
You can follow the latest scores and results here, while viewing the action images from each session.
There will be live coverage of the senior gold medal matches in barebow, compound and recurve on Sunday afternoon on USA Archery’s YouTube channel, starting at 2pm PT.
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