USAA Junior Dream Team » News and Announcements

JDT’s Miranda Leek Selected to World Championship Teams

Teresa Iaconi — Sat, 28 May 2011 13:38:39 +0000

Congratulations to Miranda Leek on her outstanding performance at the Gold Cup recently in Bloomfield, NJ. Leek, who has been a Junior Dream Team member since 2007, shot a score of 1324 which put her in a third place finish in the qualification round. Leek continued her strong shooting performance in the elimination round final against Olympian Karen Scavotto, clinching the gold 7-1.

The event continued with the conclusion of the World Archery Championships Team Trials. Heading into this second event, Leek held the 4th spot for recurve women, but thanks to a strong qualification round score and winning all but one of her matches, moved up to secure that pivotal third spot. With her win, Leek also secures a spot on the Junior World Archery Championships Team.

“Miranda’s achievement is testimony to the Junior Dream Team experience and the fine archers who are learning to be champions within the program,” noted National Head Coach KiSik Lee. “We are pleased to announce Miranda’s graduation from the JDT, and wish her great success as she moves forward.”

Thirty one archers competed in the second stage of the Trials event. For the women’s recurve, four-time Olympian Khatuna Lorig (Los Angeles, CA) began the event in the number one spot, and never relinquished her hold, winning all but one of her matches in the second stage to finish first for the trials event. She will be joined in Torino by two-time Olympian Jennifer Nichols (Bryan, TX), and Leek (Des Moines, IA), who clinched the third spot by 1.5 points.

On the men’s side, Olympian and no. 2 world ranked Brady Ellison (Glendale, AZ), who set a new (unofficial) national record this weekend, established a commanding lead early on and continued his climb throughout the two stages, finishing the event in first with a ten point lead. Fellow Resident Athletes Jacob Wukie and Joseph Fanchin, finishing just two points apart in the standings, will round out the men’s recurve team in Italy.

Jamie Van Natta (Toledo, OH), who shot her way to the Gold Cup podium and to a new World Record, also held on to the top spot in her category, finishing first by four points. Christie Colin (Ransomville, NY) took the second spot with a half-point lead over Kailey Johnston (Dublin, GA). Together, the three will make up the women’s compound team in Torino.

In the men’s compound category, just a half point separated the top three, with these powerhouse shooters requiring a shoot-off to determine the first place ranking. Braden Gellenthien (Woodbridge, VA) taking the first position. Gellenthien will be joined at the World Archery Championships by reigning World Champion Reo Wilde (Pocatello, ID) and World Cup teammate Jesse Broadwater (Jennerstown, PA).

The coaching and team leader staff was also announced; the athletes will be coached by National Head Coach KiSik Lee, who will be joined by coaches Guy Krueger, Mel Nichols and Mike Usherenko. The team will be led by Cindy Bevilacqua.

Both compound and recurve archers will compete for team and individual medals at the World Archery Championships; this is also the event at which the U.S. recurve teams will attempt to qualify quota spots for the 2012 Olympic Games. The next stop for the full team will be Antalya, Turkey, where they will compete together at the second stage of the Archery World Cup in preparation for Torino.

For complete results from the World Archery Championships Team Trials, click here.

Catherine Park to Attend UC Berkeley

Dave Gilbert — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 12:34:31 +0000

Catherine Park has been accepted at one of the most prestigious universities in the nation; UC Berkeley.

In her own words Catherine says ”I was unsure of what college to decided upon for attending (I got accepted to many colleges) but I decided on University of California, Berkeley just yesterday.

University of California, Berkeley (shorten to UC Berkeley) is one of 9 public universities in California. UC Berkeley has been ranked, in the latest London Higher Education Times rankings, as ranked 4th in the world overall, and 1st in the world for a public university. They also have a strong archery club where I intend to continue shooting.

I intend to get a double major at UC Berkeley. I applied to major in psychology but I’m planning to sign up to get a major in sports med or anything related to that field.”

Please join me in wishing Catherine the best of luck as she begins a new and excting phase of her life.

Junior Dream Team Adds Coaches to Staff

Dave Gilbert — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 12:52:19 +0000

The Junior Dream Team has made good progress in the past year breaking national and international records and raising the performance bar to new heights. We have also increased the size of the team to 36 archers. This group of young archers represent some of the best Cadet and Junior archers in the country and will no doubt continue their winning ways this year.

As a result of this success and growth, National Head Coach Kisik Lee has announced the addition of four new Regional Coaches to the staff of the Junior Dream Team. They are Teresa Iaconi from Connecticut, Doug Ludwig from New York state, Robert Turner from Florida, and Chuck Brown from Texas. Teresa, Doug and Robert will serve as JDT coaches at camps and at certain tournaments, and Chuck will serve as the Assistant Team Leader at JDT camps.

I’m sure these additions will help to make a great team even better! Welcome aboard!

Jim White
Elite Coach
Junior Dream Team Coordinator

Results of the 2nd Annual JDT Indoor Championship

Dave Gilbert — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 14:09:40 +0000

Virtual JOAD and the staff of the JDTare pleased to announce the results of the 2nd Annual JDT Indoor Championship. The event was held concurrently with the February 2011 JDT training camp (February 18th through the 23rd) at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO.

In the 18m ranking round, top honors goes to Chris Luman with a total score of 564, closely followed by Sean and Daniel McLaughlin with scores of 558 and 552 respectively.

In the 18m Olympic Round, Sean McLaughlin won Gold while Daniel McLaughlin and Clayton Gregory took home the Silver and Bronze medals.

In Team competition, “Messin’ with Sasquatch” took top honors, followed by “Thunder Chickens”, “Gold Fish” and “McKinAnnLaughlin”

In the 25 meter ranking round, Juniors Daniel and Sean McLaughlin won 1st and 2nd while Aghili Arya took 3rd place. Kit Flick won top honors among women by placing 4th overall.

For details, please see the graphics below:

Ranking Round Results

Elimination Rounds

Team Round Results

JDT 25m Indoor Results

Announcing the 2nd Annual JDT Indoor Championship

Dave Gilbert — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 22:58:24 +0000

Virtual JOAD and the staff of the JDTare pleased to announce the 2nd Annual JDT Indoor Championship. The event is to be held concurrently with the February 2011 JDT training camp (February 18th through the 23rd) at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. As a registered Star FITA event, archers are eligible to break national as well as international records.

The matches will consist of a 60 arrow 18 meter ranking round, followed by 18 meter match play and team rounds.

Attendance at the event is closed and is by invitation only.

2011 February Camp Dates Set

Dave Gilbert — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 16:22:19 +0000

The dates for the next camp have been set. Camp will be held from Feb 18, 2011 to Feb 24, 2011 in Colorado Springs, CO.

The 18^th and 24^th are arrival and departure dates.

Camp Team Leader: Coach Dee

Camp Head Coach: Coach Lee

JDT Welcomes Richard Cockrell to Staff

Dave Gilbert — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 14:09:37 +0000

The JDT is happy to announce coach Richard Cockrell has joined the ranks of JDT coaches. Coach Cockrell has extensive experience as both a coach and recurve competitor. Coach Cockrell is also the personal coach of Jeremiah Cusick who was recently selected to join the 2011 Junior Dream Team.

Next time you see coach Cockrell, give him a big welcome to the JDT family.

Ten JDT Archers Become Members of the 2011 USA Archery Team

Dave Gilbert — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 15:41:53 +0000

Following an exciting season of USAT competitions, ten current members of the JDT have landed spots the 2011 U.S. Archery Team. The announcement follows a long competition season where athletes were required to meet demanding qualifying standards including participation in at least 3 USAT qualifying events.

To qualify in the Senior division, the average placement at U.S. National Target Championships and the U.S. Open was used for ranking along with the next two highest USAT finishes.

In the Junior and Cadet Divisions, archers were ranked by their average placement at the Easton JOAD National Championships and Junior U.S. Open combined with the results of the next two highest USAT finishes.

The JDT had several of its members go above and beyond, shooting up one or more divisions to capture Jr. and Sr. USAT positions. Two Cadets, Matt Zumbo, and Miranda Leek, each shot up an age division finish 1^st in their respective Junior divisions. Fifteen year old Cadet Michelle Gilbert became the youngest member of the Sr. Women’s USAT squad by shooting up two age divisions to finish in 8th place.

Sr. USAT:

Cadet Michelle Gilbert earns the 8th spot on the Sr. Women’s USAT squad.

Jr. USAT – Juniors:

In the Junior Men’s division, Cadet Matt Zumbo tops off a record breaking year by capturing 1^st place in the Men’s Junior Recurve division.

In the Junior Women’s division, Cadet Miranda Leek, Youth Olympian and JDT member, captured 1^st place on the Women’s Recurve Jr. USAT squad, while Emily Blake took 4^th place.

Jr. USAT – Cadets:

In the Cadets Men’s division, Sean McLaughlin, Nathan Yamaguchi, Chris Luman finish 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th place respectively.

In the Cadets Women’s division, Mackenzie Brown, Cara Henslin and Heather Trafford capture 1^st, 2^nd and 4^th place respectively.

Congratulations to all members of the JDT for their successes this year.

For complete results see: http://usarchery.org/news/2010/11/15/2011-united-states-archery-team-announced/39524

Michelle Gilbert - Sr. USAT Member

Matt Zumbo - Jr. USAT Member - Junior Team

Miranda Leek - Jr. USAT - Junior Team

Emily Blake - Jr USAT - Junior Team

Sean McLaughlin - Jr. USAT - Cadet Team

Cara Henslin - Jr. USAT - Cadet Team

Nathan Yamaguchi _ Jr. USAT - Cadet Team

Chris Lumen - Jr. USAT - Cadet Team

Mackenzie Brown - Jr. USAT - Cadet Team

Heather Trafford - Jr. USAT - Cadet Team

JDT Welcomes Gary Yamaguchi to Staff

Dave Gilbert — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 19:18:45 +0000

The JDT welcomes Mr. Gary Yamaguchi to the staff of the JDT.

Mr. Gary Yamaguchi, father of Red Team member Nathan Yamaguchi, has agreed to join the coaching staff of the JDT. Already a familiar face to many in the archery community, we have seen Mr Yamaguchi serve as a dad, regional coach, and judge at many tournaments over the years. Next time you see him, please give him a hearty thanks for all he does for the sport of archery and a big welcome to the JDT.

For more on Coach Yamaguchi, go to: http://usaajdt.com/the-team/jdt-coaches-and-staff/coach-gary-yamaguchi/

JDT Red Team Travels to Guadalajara Mexico for Pan American Championship

Dave Gilbert — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 18:21:33 +0000

18 October 2010

Guadalajara, Mexico

JDT Red Team members Mackenzie Brown, Michelle Gilbert, Kiley Larrick, Miranda Leek, Heather Trafford, Chris Luman, Daniel McLaughlin, Nathan Yamaguchi and Matt Zumbo traveled to Guadalajara Mexico to compete in the Pan American Championships, a qualifying event for the Pan American Games.

The team traveled with several Resident Athletes/Sr. USAT team members including Khatuna Lorig, Thomas Stanwood, Brady Ellison, Jacob Wukie, Jake Kaminski, Kristin Braun and Heather Koel.

Red Team Cadet Women Michelle Gilbert, Mackenzie Brown Heather Trafford and Kiley Larrick shot up a division to compete as Juniors, while Miranda Leek shot up two divisions to shoot with the Seniors. Daniel McLaughlin, Matt Zumbo and Chris Luman competed as Cadets while Nathan Yamaguchi shot up a division with the Juniors.

A Happy Daniel brings home plenty of gold

During the Individual Ranking Rounds, JDT team members were awarded numerous medals for individual distances and overall FITA ranking round.

In the Recurve Cadet Male division Daniel McLaughlin took home gold at 70 and 60 meters, bronze a 50 meteres, silver at 30 meters and a gold for the overall FITA with a score of 1335. Matt Zumbo took gold at 50 meters and shot a remarkable score of 352 at 30meters.

In the Recurve Junior Women division, Michelle Gilbert took home silver medals at 70, 50 and 30 meters, bronze at 60 meters and a gold for the overall FITA.

Several performances were good enough to break standing Pan American Championship records. Daniel McLaughlin broke the 70m, 60m and 144 arrow FITA records while Matt Zumbo broke the 30m record. Michelle Gilbert broke the 144 arrow FITA record with a score of 1271.

Going into Team Rounds, both the Cadet Men and Junior Women’s teams were ranked 1^st.

A summary of TEAM USA’s results after the first day of shooting are listed below:

RCM
1 Daniel McLaughlin 1335
3 Matthew Zumbo 1314
15 Chris Luman 1072
RJM
10 Nathan Yamaguchi 1215
RJW
1 Michelle Gilbert 1271
8 Mackenzie Brown 1202
13 Kiley Larrick 1176
17 Heather Trafford 1129
RM
1 Brady Ellison 1346
3 Jacob Wukie 1333
5 Jake Kaminski 1326
6 Thomas Stanwood 1319
RW
1 Khatuna Lorig 1344
6 Kristin Braun 1293
7 Heather Koehl 1292
11 Miranda Leek 1283

Results of the Second Day of Shooting (Team Rounds):

USA’s Senior Mens team takes gold, Senior Women, Jr Women and Cadet Men teams all take silver medals in their matches!

Brown, Gilbert and Trafford Win Silver in Junior Team Event

Results of the Third Day of Shooting (Junior and Cadet OR’s):

The team didn’t disappoint in the individual elimination matches, bringing home two gold and one bronze medal for their efforts. Finishing off her OR match with a perfect end of 30 points, Michelle Gilbert takes gold while Kiley Larrick brings home the bronze medal in the Junior Recurve Women division. Daniel McLaughlin takes gold and Matt Zumbo finishes 4th in the Cadet Recurve Male division.

Daniel McLaughlin Wins Gold in Cadet OR's

Michelle Gilbert and Kiley Larrick Win Gold and Bronze in the OR's

Results of the Third Day of Shooting (Mixed Team Rounds):

Kiley Larrick and Nathan Yamaguchi win bronze in the junior mixed team event.

Kiley Larrick and Nathan YAmaguchi Capture Bronze in Mixed Team Event