Photo by World Archery
YANKTON, S.D. – Among the 36 archers making up the U.S. team at the World Archery Field Championships, all return to the site of this year’s Field Nationals, while some return to the event as defending champions.
Dewey Hathaway was a double gold medalist two years ago in compound U21, taking individual and mixed team honors. Brady Ellison won individual gold in recurve men for a third time, following victory previously in 2014 and 2016. And Paige Pearce made it three wins in a row with success in 2024. That run of gold included victory in 2022, when the World Archery Field Championships were last held in Yankton (pictured above).
Pearce said, “To me, the three in the row just sounded like such a big deal and no one had ever done that, so I felt a lot of pressure around the three in a row. I feel like now that I hit that I'm just going to try and keep the streak going. I shot (in Yankton) earlier this year and did very well so it kind of gives me some good expectations.”
The U.S. team was confirmed following the USA Archery Field Nationals, which took place in Yankton in early June. In total, there are 244 archers competing at the World Archery Field Championships from 31 nations, with the event running from Wednesday until Sunday. Official practice is on Tuesday.
Though familiar with the location, Pearce dismissed suggestions of a home advantage, adding, “You know I don't necessarily think it does. I grew up shooting that style stuff and so to me it's not something where I need to know a course or need to practice.
“I've shot hills my whole life and I've shot angles and done all of that and so really for me it's just being present in the moment and not making stupid mistakes like miss setting your sight or mis-framing a target or something like that.”
Hathaway, who won U.S. Open gold last month in the senior division of compound men, is joined in the U21 team by Rebel Gear Buckeye Classic silver medalist (senior division) Grady Kane and Christopher Wong. Recurve men also includes two-time World Field Championships medalist, Matthew Nofel and 2024 team bronze medalist, Ashton Probus. Probus won his medal in recurve mixed team with Hailey Franzone, who is also in the 2026 team.
Pearce is joined in compound women by Savannah Nofel and Cassidy Cox, both of whom claimed individual silver, in 2016 and 2018 respectively. For all of her success in other forms of the sport, Pearce admits there is something special about field archery.
“I think it's just the challenge,” she began. “I like field, the technicality of having to judge the distance and then know your cuts and make sure you set your sight correctly. And then just in your form there's a lot of technical stuff; we're shooting uphills. Downhill, side hills. You have to be really on top of it and pay attention to that stuff and I think the reason I excel at that is I do love it so much.”
The U.S. team is brimming with archers who have excelled on the domestic stage this year, notably winners on the USAT Qualifier Series circuit, including Alex De Vera (barebow men), James Lutz (compound men), Erin Hollom, Ava Jones (both barebow women), Casey Kaufhold, Nicole Rasor (both recurve women), Anthony Malik (barebow U21 men), Chloe Crandall (barebow U21 women), Hailey Franzone (recurve U21 women), Jackson Miller (recurve U21 men) and Khloe Markle (compound U21 women).
A number of those archers mentioned often compete in different age categories to those they will step into in Yankton. Nicole Rasor won the Easton Foundations Salt Lake Summit and Easton Foundations SoCal Showdown in recurve 50+ women. Chloe Crandall took gold at the Rebel Gear Buckeye Classic in barebow U18 women. Khloe Markle was the compound U18 women’s champion at SoCal Showdown.
U.S. has largest team with 36 archers. Next comes Italy with 25, then Australia with 23. Italy topped the medals table in 2024, managing six gold, five silver and four bronze. The USA enjoyed five gold, four silver and five bronze.
Pearce, as with Ellison, have set the standard for others to follow. The pair also know that the chasing pack is gaining ground.
Pearce commented, “I've definitely been watching some of the scores internationally and everyone is getting better every single year and more people are getting into field and their scores are climbing so I know it's going to be a tough one this year.
“I've seen this in the U.S, where you win for a few years by a pretty significant margin and then every year the margin starts getting less and less and less and when you're already at a pretty high score there's not as much room to grow right and so you're kind of just sitting around waiting for everybody to catch you.
“It's been enough years now I know the ladies are working really hard and really motivated and their scores have improved at everything else so there's no reason to think they're not going to be higher at field so it's going to be challenging but I'm ready.”
Pearce took individual gold and two team silvers at the 2024 World Archery Field Championships. One of those silver medals came in women’s team, alongside Alex Zuleta-Visser and Fawn Girard. Zuleta-Visser is part of this year’s team, as is Ryan Davis, who won barebow mixed team silver with Girard two years ago.
You can follow the scores from Yankton HERE. The full interview with Paige Pearce can be found on USA Archery’s YouTube channel.
Thanks to the generosity of the Lancaster Archery Foundation, each U.S. archer participating at the World Archery Field Championships will receive a $500 stipend.
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BAREBOW MEN |
COMPOUND MEN |
RECURVE MEN |
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Ryan Davis |
Gaius Carter |
Brady Ellison |
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BAREBOW WOMEN |
COMPOUND WOMEN |
RECURVE WOMEN |
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Erin Hollom |
Cassidy Cox |
Casey Kaufhold |
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BAREBOW U21 MEN |
COMPOUND U21 MEN |
RECURVE U21 MEN |
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Anthony Malik |
Christopher Fong |
Pierce McAdam |
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BAREBOW U21 WOMEN |
COMPOUND U21 WOMEN |
RECURVE U21 WOMEN |
|
Sydney Clardy |
Julia Cook |
Emma Berkshire |
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