Richmond, VA – UPIKE Archery capped off the USA Archery Collegiate Target Nationals in a big way on Sunday, claiming a pair of individual national titles in thrilling fashion and placing fifth in the overall team standings. The Bears earned six medals overall, and had three named USA Archery All-Americans.
Kirklin Newsome earned his first career national title on Sunday afternoon, edging out Kentucky Christian's Brandon Whitt 139-138 in the bowhunter men. Newsome adds USA gold medalist to his list of accolades after being tied through the first few ends.

After entering the bracket as an 18^th-seed, Emily Dendinger made an impressive run through the women's bowhunter competition all the way to the championship match. The freshman took on fourth-seed Molly Gawedzinski in which the two battled through five ends, finding themselves deadlocked at 130-130. Dendinger won the one-arrow shoot off, claiming the gold medal and the second national champion distinction for the Bears this season.

The two individual titles are the first for first-year Head Coach Ellie Yocum.
   
Newsome, Anna Scarbrough, and AJ Clements found success in the first day of action, as they all three etched themselves in the record books with program-record marks. Scarbrough made her mark in the women's compound event with a 672, Newsome in the men's bowhunter with a 683, and Clements with a 617 in the men's recurve. All three were also honored as USA Archery All-Americans. Newsome went on to secure gold on Sunday while both Scarbrough and Clements took home bronze.
  Saturday brought the Bears' teamplay into the spotlight as a pair of teams earned silver medals while two more notched finishes in the top-8. The first silver medal went to the men's barebow team of Mason Hess, Andrew Blackburn, and Jacob Suffridge. The trio outshot Texas A&M in ends one and three but were edged out by the Aggies.

Dendinger, Emily Crum, and Kynsley Redmon made up the women's bowhunter unit that claimed a silver medal, defeating Texas A&M in the quarterfinals 204-177 before taking down Lindsey Wilson 203-197 in the semifinal round. University of the Cumberlands secured the gold medal in the finals, defeating the Bears 220-199.

In the mixed events UPIKE's top finish came from the compound duo of Anna Scarbrough and Evan Flores who claimed fourth in the 11-team field. UPIKE's recurve duo of AJ Clements and Anna Scarbrough finished in the final eight as well as Newsome and Dendinger in the mixed bowhunter event.
UPIKE Archery placed fifth overall out of 26 affiliated teams in the 2021 USA Archery Collegiate Target Nationals. The Bears scored 32 team points and 36 individual points, totaling 68 on the weekend. 20 of the Bears' team individual points came from the two national champions, while recurve and compound added six each. Mason Hess's fifth place finish in the bowhunter added another four to the individual count. Team wise bowhunter scored 14, barebow contributed 8, compound scored 7, and recurve added 3.