ARCHERY: New star Kaufhold wins U.S. title at 14 years old!

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Brady Ellison won his seventh straight National Target Championship in the Recurve (Olympic) division, setting a new championship record of 1,365 points.

Now to the surprises:

  • Fourteen-year-old Casey Kaufhold won the women’s title at 1,305, defeating 2016 Olympian Mackenzie Brown by one point – 1,305 to 1,304 – and four-time Olympian Khatuna Lorig (1,259).
  • Kaufhold then whipped through the U.S. Open elimination rounds until she ran into Eliana Claps in the semifinal and lost, 7-1. But she won the bronze medal over Lorig, 6-2, while Brown defeated Claps, 6-0, to win the U.S. Open tournament.
  • While Ellison won the 144-arrow National Target title by 25 points over Matt Requa, it was Requa who won the U.S. Open title in the elimination format by a 6-4 decision in the final!
  • Jamie van Natta, now 40, came back from a long absence from the sport to shoot her way back to the top of the U.S. Nationals podium in the women’s Compound Division. “This has been such a year of huge changes for me, and just to completely upend everything I’ve ever believed or known so it’s super cool that I’m coming back with brand new everything, starting from scratch, and just finding myself all over again. I turned 40 this year, so I’ve been around for quite a while and I’m one of the older people in my division, so it’s good to score one for the old guard as well.”

After excellent weather for the Target Championships, the U.S. Open elimination tournament was held in rain, wind and with lightning delays. Brown was delighted to win the women’s Recurve division after coming so close in the Target event.

“When we’re training for these events, we work really hard, so when your expectations don’t become reality, it is frustrating, especially by such small margins,” she said. “On the other hand, to know that so much work has gone into it is encouraging; I’ve worked really hard to get here and it’s paid off. I’m really happy with how I shot this competition because it’s been my best of the year and though it didn’t all go as consistently as I’d like, it was enough for the win and that makes me happy today.”

Requa is a resident athlete at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center in California and won his first national title, impressively over Ellison.

Braden Gellenthien won the men’s Compound division in the Target Championships, but then had to go to a shoot-off against Tate Morgan in the Open, losing on an extra arrow when Morgan shot a perfect 10. Summaries:

U.S. National Target Championships
Dublin, Ohio (USA) ~ 8-11 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Recurve (144 arrows @ 70 m): 1. Brady Ellison, 1,365; 2. Matthew Requa, 1,340; 3. Alex Bourdage, 1,317; 4. Matthew Zumbo, 1,314; 5. Joony Kim, 1,307; 6. Jack Williams, 1,307; 7. Adam Heidt, 1,307; 8. Matthew Nofel, 1,304.

Men’s Compound (144 arrows @ 50 m): 1. Braden Gellenthien, 1,421; 2. Steve Anderson, 1,413; 3. Tate Morgan, 1,413; 4. James Lutz, 1,412; 5. Kris Schaff, 1,48; 6. Dan Jasa, 1,408; 7. Reo Wilde, 1,407; 8. Collin Natterstad, 1,403.

Men’s Barebow (144 arrows @ 50 m): 1. Ben Rogers, 1,265; 2. John Demmer III, 1,262; 3. John Dillinger, 1,253.

Women’s Recurve (144 arrows @ 70 m): 1. Casey Kaufhold, 1,305; 2. Mackenzie Brown, 1,304; 3. Khatuna Lorig, 1,259; 4. Erin Mickelberry, 1,259; 5. Eliana Claps, 1,249; 6. Megan Tan, 1,238; 7. Branduin Stroud, 1,238; 8. Crystal Gauvin, 1,236.

Women’s Compound (144 arrows @ 50 m): 1. Jamie van Natta, 1,386; 2. Sarah Lance, 1,384; 3. Cassidy Cox, 1,379; 4. Lexi Keller, 1,378; 5. Alexis Ruiz, 1,377; 6. Breanna Theodore, 1,376; 7. Danielle Reynolds, 1,374; 8. Paige Pearce Gore, 1,374.

Women’s Barebow (144 arrows @ 50 m): 1. Sarah Briscoe, 1,146; 2. Tracey Francis, 1,109; 3. Melody Richards, 1,085.

U.S. Open
Dublin, Ohio (USA) ~ 10-11 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Recurve: 1. Matthew Requa; 2. Brady Ellison; 3. Alex Bourdage; 4. Joony Kim. Semis: Ellison d. Kim, 6-0; Requa d. Bourdage, 6-5. Third: Bourdage d. Kim, 7-1. Final: Requa d. Ellison, 6-4.

Men’s Compound: 1. Tate Morgan; 2. Braden Gellenthien; 3. James Lutz; 4. Steve Anderson. Semis: Gellenthien d. Lutz, 146-145; Morgan d. Anderson, 148-146. Third: Lutz d. Anderson, 147-146. Final: Morgan d. Gellenthien, 148-148 (shoot-off).

Men’s Barebow: 1. John Demmer III; 2. Ben Rogers; 3. Gregory Nunes; 4. John Dillinger. Semis: Rogers d. Dillinger, 7-3; Demmer III d. Nunes, 6-2. Third: Nunes d. Dillinger, 6-2; Final: Demmer III d. Rogers, 6-5.

Women’s Recurve: 1. Mackenzie Brown; 2. Eliana Claps; 3. Casey Kaufhold; 4. Khatuna Lorig. Semis: Claps d. Kaufhold, 7-1; Brown d. Lorig, 5-2. Third: Kaufhold d. Lorig, 6-2. Final: Brown d. Claps, 6-0.

Women’s Compound: 1. Breanna Theodore; 2. Alexis Ruiz; 3. Jamie van Natta; 4. Sarah Lance. Semis: Ruiz d. Van Natta, 147-140; Theodore d. Lance, 146-143. Third: van Natta d. Lance, 145-144. Final: Theodore d. Ruiz, 144-143.

Women’s Barebow: 1. Sarah Briscoe; 2. Kim Hartman; 3. Tracey Francis; 4. Melody Richards. Semis: Briscoe d. Richards, 6-2; Hartman d. Francis, 6-0. Third: Francis d. Richards, 6-0. Final: Briscoe d. Hartman, 6-4.