Tuesday, May 24, 2016

U.S. Olympic Team Trials

Media Advisory: Easton Foundations Gator Cup and 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Archery, final nomination shoot
Event: Easton Foundations Gator Cup and 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Archery, final nomination shoot

Where: Easton Newberry Sports Complex - 24880 NW 16 Ave, Newberry, FL 32669

When: The Easton Foundations Gator Cup will take place May 26-28, immediately followed by the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Archery, final nomination shoot May 29-30.

What: The Easton Foundations Gator Cup is the second of four U.S. Archery Team (USAT) Qualifier Series Events of the 2016 season where archers earn valuable points towards a spot on the national team. The event will consist of official practice, a 72-arrow ranking round, and head-to-head elimination matches. The 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Archery, final nomination shoot is the last of a three-part trials process. The U.S. has qualified a full men's team of three archers, and has earned one spot for our women. They will have one more chance to qualify a full team, and this Trials process will determine which archers are nominated to those slots to go to the Games in Rio.

Who: Top archers to watch include 2012 London Olympic Silver Medalists Brady Ellison, Jake Kaminski and Jacob Wukie and five-time Olympian and Olympic Bronze Medalist Khatuna Lorig, who also taught Jennifer Lawrence archery for her role as Katniss in the Hunger Games movies. Zach Garrett and Collin Klimitchek are the two youngest archers in the running for the men's top 8, and both have a good shot with multiple recent international medals under their belts. Garrett invents his own archery equipment that he competes with, and Klimitchek is an avid adventure seeker and nature lover, which is how he found the sport of archery.

Mackenzie Brown leads the women's field with a wide margin. Nicknamed the Girl on Fire, Brown narrowly missed the 2015 World Championship team, but then came back to suddenly win a spot on almost every major international podium for the remainder of the season. Currently ranked fourth in the world, Brown also won bronze at the Rio Test Event and is a strong contender for a medal this summer.

The top eight men stand as follows:

1. Brady Ellison (Globe, Arizona)
2. Zach Garrett (Wellington, Missouri)
3. Jake Kaminski (Gainesville, Florida)
4. Collin Klimitchek (Victoria, Texas)
5. Jacob Wukie (Fremont, Ohio)
6. Thomas Stanwood (Raynham, Massachusetts)
7. Daniel McLaughlin (West Chester, Ohio)
8. Sean McLaughlin (West Chester, Ohio)

The top eight women stand as follows:

1. Mackenzie Brown (Flint, Texas)
2. Hye Youn Park (Cupertino, California)
3. LaNola Pritchard (Lehi, Utah)
4. Ariel Gibilaro (North Branford, Connecticut)
5. Khatuna Lorig (West Hollywood, California)
6. Erin Mickelberry (Bothell, Washington)
7. Lauren Clamon (Chula Vista, California)
8. Heather Koehl (Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin)

Live updates as the Trials continue are available here. For more, follow USA Archery on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For any media questions or credential requests, please contact media@usarchery.org.

About USA Archery
USA Archery is the National Governing Body for the Olympic sport of archery in the United States. USA Archery selects and trains Olympic, Paralympic, World Championship, and World Cup teams, as well as developing archery at the grassroots level across the United States. For more information, visit http://www.usarchery.org.

Media Contact
Sarah Bernstein/Public Relations
sbernstein@usarchery.org
201.919.8050