After finishing at the top of the men’s field and winning six of seven matches today, Ellison still felt he could have performed better and insisted the next two shoots will be a better indicator of who the best archers are.

“The wind was definitely tricky and it took a lot out of me mentally,” Ellison said. “I have never shot in a tournament where the wind was that bad.”

Even with the intense winds, Ellison was still able to hold off Vic Wunderle (Mason City, Ill.) in the overall standings. Wunderle entered the shoot ranked No. 1 in the nation, but finished 1.25 points behind Ellison and placed second. However, Ellison does not necessarily see his first-place finish over Wunderle as any indicator that he is the better archer.

“It is always good to do well and finish first, but the first shoot does not really count as too much,” Ellison said. “Besides just getting a confidence boost from it, it doesn’t matter too much because even the sixteenth ranked shooter mathematically has a chance to still make the team.”

Khatuna Lorig (Bloomfield, N.J.) also saw the wind as a major contributor to how she shot even though she finished towards the top in the overall standings and placed second only behind Nichols in the women’s field. Lorig won 13 of her 15 matches, but her total score was 2.25 points lower than the 23.75 points earned by Nichols.

“I was very distracted with the wind because it was really inconsistent and my score was definitely lower than it would have been without it,” Lorig said. “Other tournaments I have been in have been windy, but at least it was consistent then.”

While the scores may have been lower due to the wind, Nichols continued her dominance in round robin play. Nichols won six of her seven matches a day after winning all eight of her matches in the opening of the round robin series. Nichols only loss came against the fifth-seeded, Kate Anderson (Los Angeles, Calif.), who eventually finished eighth overall.

Butch Johnson (Woodstock, Conn.) and Karen Scavotto (Chula Vista, Calif.) each finished third in the men and women’s brackets respectively to round out the top-three.

The thirty-two archers who earned births to the Second Nomination Shoot will now have until April to prepare for their next chance to make a case for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team for archery.

“The most important thing about the first shoot is that it shows you where you stand,” U.S. National Team Coach Kisik Lee said. “Now the athletes know how much work they have to do in order to catch up to the elite archers.”

The Second Nomination Shoot will take place at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., April 1-6. After the conclusion of the Second Nomination Shoot, the total field will be cut down to eight men and eight women. Those athletes will then compete in the Third Nomination Shoot at the Easton Archery Complex in Phoenix, Ariz., May 1-4 to determine their final rank. Those athletes will be ranked 1-8 and they will be nominated to the USOC for a position on the U.S. Olympic Team. There are currently three slots open for the men and one for the women.

Any changes in location for any of the nomination shoots will be posted on the USAA website, http://www.usarchery.org/, at least 60 days prior to the start of the event.

The top-five in the final overall standings for the First Nomination Shoot is listed below:

Men’s Recurve

Place First Last Total
1 Brady Ellison 20.75
2 Vic Wunderle 19.50
3 Butch Johnson 17.25
4 Shawn Rice 16.75
5 Dan Schuller 15.25

Women’s Recurve

Place First Last Total
1 Jenny Nichols (J) 23.75
2 Khatuna Lorig 21.50
3 Karen Scavotto 20.75
4 Lindsay Pian 20.00
5 Dawn Chudy 13.50


For more information, contact Michael Neustedter, USOC Media Relations, at (719) 866-3503 or Michael.Neustedter@usoc.org.