WILLIAMSBURG – UPIKE archery finished the first leg of the Mid-South Conference season on Sunday, finishing fourth in the 3D championships.
The Bears came home with three gold medals, finishing first in the men’s and mixed recurve team events as well as Tori Gayheart finishing first individually in women’s recurve.
The men’s and mixed recurve teams both defeated Lindsey Wilson, 176-164 on the men’s side and 116-99 on the mixed side. Gayheart finished strong in the individual shootdown with three straight tens to leapfrog her teammate, Elizabeth Jones for first with 46 points in five shots.
A trio of individuals took home silver medals for UPIKE as well, including Jones in women’s recurve, AJ Clements in men’s recurve, and Makayla Erwin-McFarland in women’s basic bow.
Clements came up just short of gold behind Lindsey Wilson’s Drew Canos who shot a perfect 60, while Clements had 58. Erwin-McFarland won a tie-breaker with Nina Ni of Campbellsville to earn her silver medal with 46 points.
A band of six individuals and teams took home bronze medals to round out the scoring for UPIKE including the men’s compound team, the mixed bowhunter and compound team, and the men’s and women’s basic bow team. Individually, Zachary Johnson earned bronze in men’s recurve.
Those performances combined for UPIKE to finish fourth, just two points behind third-place Lindsey Wilson and seven points back of first-place Cumberlands. UPIKE will now prepare for 3D Nationals in three weeks in Foley, Ala. before transitioning into Indoor season.
(Source: UPIKE Sports Information Office)