Chulo Vista, Calif. – Bear archery wrapped up an impressive showing at the 2022 USA Archery Collegiate Target Nationals on Sunday afternoon, placing third of 47 teams. 11 Bears were named All-American, three broke school records, several landed podium finishes, and Anna Scarbrough was named Women's Compound Archer of the Year.
The Bears garnered 84 total points in three days of competition, earning 52 through team play and 32 from individuals. UPIKE took third overall behind University of the Cumberlands who finished first with 147 and Texas A&M who placed second with 130. The team breakdown saw the recurve teams earn eight points, compound earned 20, barebow contributed nine, and fixed pins totaled 15.
Individually, the best point performers were the fixed pins archers, totaling 18 points (10 from men's, eight from women's). The compound archers offered 12 total points, with the women's team earning eight including Anna Scarbrough who finished runner-up.
Several individuals landed top ten in their respective disciplines, led by Kirklin Newsome who finished first in the fixed pins with a total score of 146. Newsome defeated Connor Kaufhold of Texas A&M in the quarterfinals (145-143) before sweeping A&M's J.P Gonzales in the semifinals. Newsome faced Chase Herndon of Union College in the championship round, edging a 146-145 victory to claim gold.
Both Emily Dendinger (fixed pins) and Anna Scarbrough (compound) claimed silver medals. Women's compound archer of the year Scarbrough faced Hannah Moose of UC in the quarterfinals, outscoring her 143-141 to move on to the semifinals where she claimed three of five ends to advance to the finals. Scarbrough earned runner-up in the finals match, falling to Danielle Woods (Cumberlands) 141-139. Dendinger took down Kassidy Farris of Union in the quarterfinals before trumping Cumberlands' Kimber Wheeler in the semifinals 138-133. In the championship match, Dendinger fell to Madison Cox (Cumberlands) 138-135 to claim silver.
Other individual top performances came from Matthew Russell who claimed fifth in men's compound and AJ Clements who finished seventh in the men's recurve.
In the mixed team rounds, three Bears teams claimed bronze medals including mixed compound, fixed pins, and recurve. The mixed recurve duo of Bella Barrett and Clements defeated University of the Cumberlands in the quarterfinals by a score of 5-4 before dropping to Texas A&M to finish third. In the fixed pins, Sophia Hunziger and Newsome defeated Southern Illinois College before facing James Madison University in the bronze medal match and winning 136-135. In mixed compound play, Scarbrough and Russell took down Michigan State in the quarterfinals 147-144 and defeated Union in the bronze medal match 152-147.
Team rounds saw the Bears take one silver medal and three bronze medals. The top finisher was the women's compound team of Alyssa Sturgill, Alyssa Tenney, and Scarbrough, earning silver after defeating Michigan State in the quarterfinals, and outscoring Texas A&M 222-209 in the semifinal round.
The men's barebow trio of Kyle Sturgill, Jacob Suffridge, and Thomas Olson nabbed bronze after taking down the University of Southern California in the quarterfinals and outscoring UC-Irvine in the bronze medal match 6-0. Brooke Fannin, Dendinger, and Hunziger made quick work of Texas A&M in the quarterfinals of the fixed pins event, drawing with Lindsey Wilson in the semifinals before topping Union in the bronze match 203-197. The third bronze finish came by way of Daniel Clayton, Evan Flores, and Russell in the men's compound after the unit defeated Pennsylvania College of Technology in the quarterfinals, later claiming a 230-226 win over Texas A&M to take bronze.
Three programs records were broken by the Bears, coming from performances by Bella Barrett, Anna Scarbrough, and Thomas Olson. Olson's record was the longest standing record in program history, established in the inaugural year for UPIKE Archery.
