The Classic is the largest archery competition on the east coast where archers come to compete from all over the world. During the competition, some archers may have to spend a total of three days to shoot qualifications, eliminations, and finals rounds.
The Easton Youth and Collegiate Trophy Tournament was created so young archers would only need to spend one qualification day at a lower entry fee and get the same experience of shooting at the Lancaster Archery Classic.
This Tournament is styled similar to that of the Classic where the center X-ring is scored as 11 points. All other rings are scored normally. This puts more focus on hitting the 11, rather than focusing primarily on the 10-ring.
Around 500 archers from bowmen, 12 and under, to collegiate archers shot for the chance to be the number-one seed in their division. The first-place prize was a large trophy and all podium finishers received deluxe medallions.
Although this tournament was separate from the Lancaster Archery Classic, it still proved to have the same pressure. Young archers from across the country and the world congregated at this event to see who was champion.
Controlling their nerves and not bending to the pressures of the range were two invaluable lessons that young archers could learn at this competition- both important lessons to learn if they intended on taking their archery career to the next level.
Excitement prevailed through the nerves as these young and upcoming archers could shoot on the same range as many of their pro role models with the dream that one day, they may make the pro class. These archers were also able to walk around during the Classic to meet those pros and learn from them in seminars, to boost their knowledge and interest in archery.
Some young archers didn’t have to dream too hard as they shot at both the Trophy Tournament and the Lancaster Classic. During the Classic, archers have to score and survive through a qualifications end and several elimination rounds before making the finals shoot-up rounds.
During the final rounds, archers must compete in front of a live audience, on a stage, with lighting and cameras around them. The two lowest-seeded archers shoot against each other and the winner will take on the next seeded competitor until they get to the top seed to face off for champion.
A few of the youth archers that sought to compete in the Easton Youth and Collegiate Trophy Tournament had already made the Finals Shoot-Up Stage at the Classic. This made the competition at the Trophy Tournament all that more challenging. Those who had made the Stage fought to prove they were overall champions and those who hadn’t, wanted to prove they could podium next to those talented archers.
Adding more pressure to the archers competing in the Easton Youth and Trophy Tournament was the presence of collegiate coaches in the crowd. Those archers wanting to continue their archery career into college were able to talk to these coaches about their futures on a team. This meant their scores were all that more important to showcase why they would be valuable to a college team.
To end out the weekend at the Trophy Tournament, one archer had an exciting surprise waiting for them. Bryan Brady, Lancaster Archery Academy team lead and alumnus of the James Madison University Archery Team, generously donated a complete bow set-up to Reece, a current teammate on the JMU team.
The JMU coaches had told Brady that Reece had the potential to succeed in archery, but previously lacked the equipment to get her there. We would like to congratulate Reece on her new equipment and look forward to seeing what she can accomplish in the future!
The Easton Youth and Collegiate Trophy Tournament proved to be a success both in attendance and in talent that these up-and-coming archers displayed. Although every participant shot their very best in their division, only the top competitors were awarded for their success. Congratulations to:
Recurve Bowman Male: First place Aarya Arun, second place Isaac Pak and third place Matthew Guo
Compound Cadets Female: First place Olivia Dean, second place Carson Krahe and third place Brielle Ochnich
Compound Junior Male: First place Casson Fletcher, second place Martin Gwiazdzinski and third place Samuel Tracey
Compound Junior Female: First place Makenna Proctor, second place Bella Otter and third place Rachel Flack
Compound Collegiate Male: First place Jacob Houseknecht, second place Ryan Kitts and third place Matthew Byrnes
Compound Collegiate Female: First place Emma Schaefer, second place Annaleise Tripp and third place Brianna Lingafelt
Barebow Bowman Male: First place Aleksander Perez, second place Lexington Chisenhall and third place Brayden Gaugler
Barebow Bowman Female: First place Nola Nyer, second place Faith Elliott and third place Ashley Wamsley
Barebow Cub Male: First place Cody Elliott and second place Same Whitcomb
Barebow Cub Female: First place Sophia Elder and second place Jamie DiGiacomo
Barebow Cadets Male: First place Max Rossiter and second place Logan Wansley
Barebow Cadets Female: First place Anastacia Godman, second place Abigail Sparpaglione and third place Amelia Chumber
Barebow Junior Male: First place Leo Pattersson
Barebow Junior Female: First place Maddie Brensinger and second place Ruby Chambers
Barebow Collegiate Male: First place Daniel Schell, second place Kyle Coffey and third place Michael Wolf
Compound Cadets Male: First place Isaac Sullivan, second place Sawyer Sullivan and third place Jaydon Soderlund
Compound Cub Female: First place Cecelia Higgins, second place Kinzy Brown and third place Grace Gilsdorf
Recurve Bowman Female: First place Elizabeth Doo, second place Amy Lee and third place Taylor Cho
Recurve Cub Male: First place ChanYoung Mun, second place Hyun-Shin Theodore Cho and third place Jason Zhuo
Recurve Cub Female: First place Whitney Williams, second place Robin Selley, and third place Sreenidhi Ellapukurthi
Recurve Cadets Male: First place Joshua Baek, second place Hoon Jung and third place Isaac Lee
Recurve Cadets Female: First place Samantha Ensign, second place Laurel Anderson and third place Allison Young
Recurve Junior Male: First place Tyler Thongkum, second place Aidan Zhoung and third place Ewan An
Recurve Junior Female: First place Alyssa Artz, second place Kayley Kershner and third place Julia Eckhoff
Recurve Collegiate Male: First place Noah Cagle, second place Diego Caballero and third place Steven Wu
Recurve Collegiate Female: First place Casey Card, second place Subja Chopra and third place Emily Goon
Bowhunter Collegiate Male: First place Dyson Renn, second place Bryden Mollenauer and third place Peilin Li
Bowhunter Collegiate Female: First place Emilia Miceli, second place Emily Brandt and third place Anna Carraway
Compound Bowman Male: First place Hayden Moermond, second place Easton Rupp and third place Maddox Tackett
Compound Bowman Female: First place Mackenzie Shull, second Abigail Nash and third place Sadie Hoffman
Compound Cub Male: First place Dewey Hathaway, second place Jacob Merkel and third place Wyatt Welch
Barebow Collegiate Female: First place Olivia Artz, second place Kayla Cassady and third place Allison Loyd
We would like to thank every archer for participating in this year’s Easton Youth and Collegiate Trophy Tournament. We would also like to extend a “thanks” to the parents and coaches of those archers who have helped to make their dreams come true. We can’t wait to see everyone again in 2023!