COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – It often goes that the more successful you are in sport, the more competitions you tend to find yourself involved in, and that is the case for a number of USA archers heading into the next few months.
Trenton Cowles, Catalina GNoriega and Sydney Sullenberger will be in Germany in July for the World University Games. And, following the completion of U.S. Team Trials last Monday, they will also travel to Korea in September for the World Archery Championships. And before either of those events, the trio will also be in Spain for the Hyundai Archery World Cup Stage 4.
Joining them in Spain and Korea will be Christian Stoddard, who this year has also made his debut - and medaled - on the World Cup stage. Prior to featuring for his country in Korea, the 19-year-old will represent the USA at the World Archery Youth Championships, taking place in Canada in August.
“Last World Youth Championships in Ireland, I had my first taste of a medal, which was incredible, especially with it being a world championship-level medal,” commented Stoddard.
“This year I’m really wanting more of those medals at the World Youth Championships, especially with the strong men’s team that we have (in recurve). I’d really like to win men’s team gold there.
“But I also know that on the senior World Archery Championships that we have another incredibly strong team that I do want to win team medals there.”
Stoddard’s showing over the past 12 to 18 months has been impressive, to the extent that the teenager is now an established face on the senior scene.
He added, “It’s certainly a surreal feeling to look back on the past year and see how much I’ve accomplished and the goals I’ve created. It’s something that I’m most proud about, which is that I may not be the best now but I’m always trying my best to improve as fast as I can, and learn as much as I can.
“It’s going to be a busy second half of the year but I’m just so thrilled to have these big opportunities to help sharpen my skills as an archer.”
Stoddard is one of three archers making the step up to the World Archery Championships having medaled at the 2023 World Archery Youth Championships in Ireland. The others are Sullenberger and Olivia Dean. Sullenberger took individual gold in the compound women, Dean captured mixed team gold and women’s team silver in compound, with Stoddard claiming mixed team silver in recurve.
For Sullenberger, this marks a remarkable comeback, with shoulder surgery keeping her away from the sport for 16 months.
“It means a lot for me to be able to come back this year after multiple surgeries,” Sullenberger began. “It also means a lot to make the World Championships team because I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to go back and defend my youth title, but this gives me more opportunities for more medals.”
Making the team for both the World University Games and World Archery Championships after a lengthy lay-off suggests a steely determination and inner belief from the 21-year-old, who shoots at collegiate level for Columbia University.
“I say that was the longest 16 months of my life,” she added. “I’ve been shooting for 11 years, and I have never had more than maybe a week or two off. Even when I had my knee surgeries I shot from a chair!
“It was a grueling recovery process. I had to have a follow-up surgery after the original shoulder repair, so it was a lot, but I think it just showed me how much love and drive I have for this sport, and that was the only motivation I needed to get back.”
The World University Games take place in Germany from July 16-27, which means Cowles will miss the chance of a double three-peat at next month’s Rebel Gear Buckeye Classic, which runs July 25-27 (REGISTER HERE). Cowles has won the recurve men’s division the past two years and has also won the most recent two events in the USAT Qualifier Series, the Easton Foundations Gator Cup and Easton Foundations SoCal Showdown.
GNoriega took gold at the Indoor Nationals Final and Gator Cup, and was part of the recurve women's team to place first at the World Cup Stage 3 in Turkey earlier this month, creating history in the process.
Winnipeg, Canada hosts the World Archery Youth Championships from August 17-24, with the World Archery Championships (September 5-12) and World Archery Para Championships (September 22-28) both taking place in Gwangju, Korea.
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