HALIFAX, CA – The archers took to the field again today in Halifax, but this time for the team competition of the Youth and Masters Pan Am Championships. Gold medals for all team disciplines were awarded today. The conditions were much improved compared to the last few days, with the sun coming out to warm the field, although it did cool down later as the day went on. The wind, however, decided to relinquish its effort and there were no gusts. 

In the U18 mixed team recurve semifinals, Mexico and Canada faced off while USA and Brazil shot to advance to the finals. Mexico and USA fought it out for the gold medal match, with Mexico taking the hardware. Brazil won the bronze medal in the division. 

On the recurve U21 men’s team side, Canada and Argentina faced off in a semifinal match, with Mexico receiving a bye to the gold medal round. Canada emerged victorious, but Mexico bested them in the final match. USA received the bronze medal in the U21 women’s recurve team, while Colombia and Mexico faced off in the gold medal match, with Colombia coming out on top. During the U21X recurve team competition, first-placed Mexico received a bye in the first round, then beat Colombia and Brazil to win the gold medal. When Colombia and USA battled for bronze, the American mixed duo won the match.

Argentina and the US Virgin Islands were opponents in the recurve 50+ mixed team semifinal. The Argentinian pair earned the right to move on, eventually losing to the Americans in the gold medal match.

“It was very good, except for the yellow cards; it took a minute to settle down from, but it worked out, we had plenty of time,” comments Susan Bock of the USA 50+ recurve mixed team. “The wind kept changing from arrow to arrow, so it was just quick, strong, shots.”

“[It’s a] great opportunity, beautiful field here, great event,” Mark Williams of the team followed up. “The wind has been a little challenging all week, but today was nice. Anything after that first day is great.”

Medals won in the recurve team events: U18X (Gold – MEX, Silver – USA, Bronze – BRA), U21M (Gold – MEX, Silver – CAN, Bronze – ARG), U21W (Gold – COL, Silver – MEX, Bronze – USA),  U21X (Gold – MEX, Silver – BRA, Bronze – USA), 50X (Gold – USA, Silver – ARG, Bronze – ISV).

Switching over to the compound side, there were only three teams in the U18 mixed event. Canada and USA battled out in the semifinals, with the Americans advancing on to face Mexico in the finals. The US came out as the winner in the end. In the age category above them, the U21 mixed teams then battled it out. Canada and El Salvador shot against each other in the semifinals, with the El Salvadorian archers moving on to face the US in the gold medal match. El Salvador took silver, while the USA won bronze.

Medals won in the compound team events: U18X (Gold – USA, Silver – MEX, Bronze – CAN), U21X (Gold – USA, Silver – ESA, Bronze – CAN)

CANADIAN RESULTS

Janna Hawash and Liam Bennett faced Colombia in the quarterfinal of the recurve U18 mixed and won with a score of 6-2. They moved on to face Mexico in the semifinal, but they were unable to overcome the 1st-ranked team. This bumped them to the bronze medal match, where they faced the Brazilian duo, who eventually won the match.

Jules Chouinard, Benjamen Lee, and Dawson Molitor went into a tiebreaker against Argentina in the RU21M semifinal, and won the match 5-4. This pushed them into the final match against Mexico, where the trio of Canadian men fell to their opponents. However, this still earned them the silver medal so they walked away with hardware around their necks. 

“This is my first international event in Canada, which was really exciting to be more local,” says Lee. 

“I’m glad I didn’t have to travel too far for [my first international competition],” laughs Molitor. “I need to train more shooting in the wind for next time.”

“The experience here was really great for preparing myself for the next event that’s taking place in Quebec or Canada Cup East,” comments Chouinard. “This competition helped me to grow for these events.”

The Canadian duo of Natalee Chan and Benjamen Lee were the representatives in the recurve U21 mixed team. Unfortunately, they were unable to make it past the Colombian team who was ranked one spot above them in the qualification rounds. 

The U18 compound mixed team competition had Canadians Bailey Mathers and Emmett Kapaniuk. Mathers and Kapaniuk faced off against the Americans, but lost by a score of 144-137. Because of the limited number of competitors in this field, the Canadians walked away with the bronze medal, leaving USA and Mexico to battle it out for gold.

“It was difficult but it was nice to have the experience and shoot and meet new archers that I wouldn’t have met otherwise,” mentions Mathers after the day of shooting. “No matter what happens, [I learned] to just keep shooting, things happen and they’re out of your control.”

“I was feeling good going into [the team round],” comments Kapaniuk. “It seems like my shots were breaking and others were breaking well. The wind was pretty quiet today and we were able to take advantage of that and I got some good scores.”

Chyler Sanders and Dustin Watson (U21 compound mixed team) faced off against the El Salvadorian team, who were ranked one spot above them in the qualifications. However, the Canadians dropped the match by a score of 152-149, subsequently earning bronze, making it the third and final team medal for Canada.

“It was pretty cool [to compete internationally on home soil],” says Watson. “I competed in Poland last year, which was really cool, but I love shooting here. I had a lot of fun. Got to meet some new people, which was awesome, and shot really well. There was a lot of wind, which is kind of tough to shoot in, but we pushed through. I shot some really strong shots.” 

“It was nerve wracking but it was really good to be able to shoot it, it was fun,” adds Sanders. 

The final day of competition is tomorrow, where Mainland Common in Halifax will see individual gold medals contested in the three bow categories and in all  the age categories.  

This event is made possible by the Government of Canada, the Province of Nova Scotia, and the City of Halifax.

For more information, please contact:

Zoe Meil, Communications & Safe Sport Coordinator

zmeil@archerycanada.ca

(613) 260-2113 ext. 3

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