COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado - After a grueling team selection process, archers have been selected for teams heading to the 2015 Pan American Games, Parapan American Games, the World Archery Championships and the World Archery Para Championships. The stakes for these teams are high; they will be competing not only for serious hardware, but also to earn spots for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Para Archers, competing at both the Parapan Am Games and the World Archery Para Championships, have two chances to clinch Paralympic quota spots. Meanwhile, the top eight recurve teams per gender at the World Archery Championships will clinch team berths for Rio 2016; the Championships, held in Copenhagen, will be the first opportunity for Olympic qualification.
Key Dates:
Meet the Recurve Team:
The recurve team will travel first to the Pan Am Games, followed by the World Archery Championships.
The team boasts two world-class veterans: five-time Olympian and Olympic bronze medalist Khatuna Lorig (West Hollywood, California), and Brady Ellison (Globe, Arizona), a two time Olympian who boasts an Olympic silver medal and an unprecedented three World Cup Final titles. Lorig led this team selection event on the women's side. This "Hunger Games" coach, who tutored Jennifer Lawrence for her role as Katniss Everdeen, was also Team USA's highest individual finisher at the London 2012 Olympic Games, where she finished fourth.
Joining Lorig are two newcomers, Ariel Gibilaro (North Branford, Connecticut) and LaNola Pritchard (Lehi, Utah), both of whom are USA Archery Resident Athletes with World Cup medals, and World Championships experience in youth and indoor events. Mackenzie Brown (Flint, Texas), also a Resident Athlete and World Archery Youth Championships silver medalist, clinched the Alternate spot.
For Ellison, a gold-medal favorite at the London 2012 Games, this will be his 12
th World Championship team and his 3
rd Pan Am Games. He is also joined by two young archers and Resident Athletes: Zach Garrett (Wellington, Missouri) and Collin Klimitchek (Victoria, Texas), rising stars who are getting lots of buzz from archery fans. Klimitchek just won his first individual World Cup medal in Turkey this month, while Garrett has been lighting up the national tournament circuit since last summer. Jake Kaminski (Gainesville, Florida) 2012 Olympic silver medalist, locked up his slot as the Alternate.
Meet the Compound Team:
This extremely talented compound team will travel to the World Archery Championships.
Braden Gellenthien (Hudson, Massachusetts), a World Cup Final champion and World Championships medalist, will join Reo Wilde (Pocatello, Idaho) on the squad. Wilde, a fiercely talented teammate and equally tough competitor, is also a multi-time World Championships medalist and World Cup Final champion. Together, they'll anchor a team that's rounded out by Alex Wifler (Crete, Illinois), this year's Vegas Champion and a World Archery Youth Championships medalist. Steve Anderson (Salt Lake City, Utah), also a member of the World Games and Archery World Cup teams, is the team Alternate.
On the women's side, Crystal Gauvin (Dayville, Connecticut) has been leading Team USA's compound squad in the Archery World Cup series this summer and will compete with a strong team for these upcoming events. Joining Gauvin: Jamie Van Natta (Toledo, Ohio), a multi-time World Championships medalist, Paige Pearce (Red Bluff, California), the multi-time World Archery Youth Champion, and Alternate, Lexi Keller (Omro, Wisconsin).
Meet the Para Team:
Open Recurve Women
Open Recurve Men
Open Compound Women
Open Compound Men
W1 Compound Women
W1 Compound Men
This para team, with strong veterans and talented newcomers, will travel first to the Parapan Am Games, followed by the World Archery Para Championships.
Lee Ford (Perry, Georgia) a 2012 Paralympian and 2011 Parapan Am Games gold medalist will shoot in the recurve women's open category alongside teammates Natalie Wells (Manteca, California) and Kinga Kiss-Johnson (McCormick, South Carolina). Wells has shot competitively for many years, and Kiss-Johnson - a soldier who was wounded in Afghanistan - is a relative newcomer on the international scene.
The recurve men's open category will see veteran Eric Bennett (Surprise, Arizona) return to the international stage after a strong individual finish at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. He'll join teammates Michael Lukow - a U.S. Army veteran from Salt Lake City, Utah - and Timothy Palumbo (Buffalo, New York), both of whom have proven themselves as strong contenders in the recurve division.
The compound division will see three entries in the women's category - three proud United States Veterans - including 2013 World Archery Para Championships silver medalist Martha Chavez (Lemoore, California), Samantha Tucker (Colorado Springs, Colorado) and newcomer Kiran Cupeles (Carolina, Puerto Rico).
And the compound men's squad will benefit from strong experience - and a fresh perspective. The team will be anchored by 2012 Paralympic silver medalist Matt Stutzman (Salt Lake City, Utah), and will feature U.S. Veteran Andre Shelby (Jacksonville, Florida), along with Ben Thompson (Ladson, South Carolina).
Paralympic gold medalist Jeff Fabry (Lemoore, California), along with Paralympians - and U.S. Veterans - Jerry Shields (Gainesville, Florida) and Chuck Lear (Lees Summit, Missouri), will comprise a strong W1 men's team. They'll join fellow Veteran Lia Coryell (LaCrosse, Wisconsin), who will be Team USA's sole entry in the W1 women's category.
Please
sbernstein@usarchery.org" target="_blank" shape="rect">contact us for further information, including interview requests and athlete images.
The 2015 U.S. Pan and Parapan American Archery teams are subject to approval by the United States Olympic Committee.
About USA Archery
USA Archery is the National Governing Body for the Olympic sport of archery in the United States. USA Archery selects and trains Olympic, Paralympic, World Championship, and World Cup teams, as well as developing archery at the grassroots level across the United States. For more information, visit
http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001BLA2Fkn7XcxCuU7VEnBlBc0XZN0wjK082Gc_7tu3QYXk-V31mYWGe3Y0A0QzTN-9DDCTda_kIKvD0b1vUbZsfHA37pikTEDLpi5yrIptF30bDCRw9GXgCPAo0Gjz8seXT3JXWE9zaswg4j6cOH1mbhxr3L71Wc1tqGnLxlQ5A4w=&c=o8L_MblFQtkpLUyPP-f9bXF0P4QHwTevB_0uZYkGZwP8ujqsIMJIUQ==&ch=cT7_uWXlF5RR8abPUfzwmU_5csCafxoOOMvaD0gzZhCIy7s4qCptkw==" target="_blank" shape="rect">
http://www.usarchery.org.
