LUBBOCK, Texas. – Brady Ellison and Casey Kaufhold maintained their momentum from the Olympic Games as they each claimed gold and the title of national champion at the Chinook Seedery USA Archery Target Nationals & U. S. Open.
Both will now begin eliminations for the U.S. Open as top seeds in the recurve division as the 140th edition of the Outdoor Nationals draws to a close on Saturday at the Berl Huffman Athletic Complex.
As well as national champions being crowned, there were also world and national records broken (pending verification). Wendy Gardner bettered her own record in the compound women open division by nine points, shooting 1300 from two 72 arrow rounds. The previous record had stood since August 18, 2021. Brandi Jones – among a number of archers from Arizona among the medals – took silver, with Kimberley Garcia leaving with bronze.
Maggie Brensinger, meanwhile, regained the barebow U21 world record from Francesca Benavidez. Benavidez set a new world high of 1210 at last year’s USA Archery JOAD Target Nationals in Des Moines. Brensinger scored a scorching 1227 over two rounds in Lubbock!
Paige Pearce made sure of gold with a score of 59 in the final round of the compound women. Having shot a 55 the previous end, which left Alexis Ruiz just one point behind, Pearce responded when it mattered, landing 59 to Ruiz’s 58 to take the title by two points.
The compound men’s title went to Kris Schaff, who finished three points better off than Sawyer Sullivan. James Lutz took bronze, one point ahead of Jacob Miller.
Zackary Bisinger and Brensinger were comfortable winners in barebow. Bisinger finished 31 points ahead of Brian Way and 32 clear of Robby Weissinger in barebow men. Brensinger was 18 points better off than Diane Cochran, the Rebel Gear Buckeye Classic champion for barebow women.
There was a joint gold in the barebow 50+ men. Both Richard Barker and Rick Stonebraker shot 1213. They also could not be separated when it came to total number of 10s (25) and Xs (8). There were no such issues in barebow 50+ women, which was won by Arizona archer Barbara Carroll by 24 points from Sabrina Harrigan.
Thomas Ramsbacher and Irene Hashimoto were winners in the barebow 60+ class, with Harold Rush adding another national champion for the state of Arizona as he took gold in the barebow 70+ men.
Kenneth Brunko, also from Arizona, took top honors in compound 50+ men, with Sharon Totton dominant in the compound 50+ women, winning by 47 points from Stephanie Lord (Arizona).
Tamara Fontenot was a clear winner in compound 60+ women, taking gold by 35 points from Alanna Dunaway. Chet Mainwaring was victorious in compound 60+ men. Jeffrey Bostwick was named national champion in the compound 70+ men division.
Arizona archers were among the medals in the recurve 50+ division. Nicole Rasor (Arizona) took bronze in the women’s category, with gold going to Jamie McCarrison (Maryland), while Ron Gosnell (Arizona) claimed silver in the men’s, finishing 11 points behind Florida’s Mark Williams.
Tom Stevenson began the outdoor season on the sidelines through injury but he ends it as national champion after claiming gold in the recurve 60+ men. Wife Kathleen took silver in the recurve 60+ women, with gold going to Janet Flenner.
There was more success for Arizona archers in the recurve 70+ women, with victory for Diana LaBeau. Larry Anderson took gold in recurve 70+ men.
One point proved the difference between gold and silver in the compound men open, which was won by Benjamin Thompson, from Douglas Godfrey Jr. Two archers departing for Paris and the Paralympic Games early next week, Eric Bennett and Jordan White, took gold and silver in the recurve men open. Karen Sternfeld took top spot in the recurve women open.
Another two Paris-bound archers were among the medals in the W1 division, with Jason Tabansky claiming gold and Tracy Otto silver.
The compound, barebow and recurve senior gold medal matches in the U.S. Open will be broadcast live on USA Archery’s Facebook and You Tube channel from 2pm CT on Saturday.
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