Press Release from HARRISBURG, Ill.:
The Union College Archery team competed in the 3D U.S. Intercollegiate Archery Championship this past weekend and collected their first national championships as a program.
On Saturday archers completed in a 20 target unknown distance round. The first round determined the first day standings and seeding for team rounds conducted in the afternoon.
It was in the team rounds that the Bulldogs made their first statement on the weekend by winning both the Men’s Compound Team National Championship and the Compound Mixed Team National Championship.
In the Compound Men’s bracket: Lucas Roy (FR/Nancy, Ky.), Jodi Hicks (FR/Gosport, Ind.) and Hannah Lane (FR/Nancy, Ky.) made up the Bulldogs’ team. The Bulldogs were able to use Hicks and Lane in the men’s bracket due to the small team substitution provision. The trio faced off against Bethel (Tenn.), Cumberlands (Ky.) and Southeastern Illinois on their march to the gold medal.
“I was extremely confident in my team’s ability to go out and win. The entire weekend, I told our shooters to have an aggressive and confident mental game, to just go do what I knew they could do and they did it,” said Head Coach Cody Kirby. “Even though we utilized the small team substitution rule, I knew we had the three most consistent and talented shooters in the entire bracket.”
Roy and Lane made up the Bulldogs’ Compound Mixed Team, made up of the highest ranked male and female in each division. On their way to the Mixed Team Gold Medal, Union had to outshoot Southeastern Illinois in the semifinals after receiving a bye in the first round and finished off the day defeating Cumberlands once again in the finals.
“After we made that run though the Compound Men’s Bracket, I knew we were seeing yardage really good. I had no doubt in our ability to roll through the bracket again,” Kirby said.
On Sunday, the Bulldogs finished off the individual portion of the tournament by completing a 20 target round with known distances.
Again the Bulldogs made their presence known. Janie Ricks (FR/West Lafayette, Ind.) lead the way finishing in second place in the Women’s Bowhunter Division.
“I am extremely proud of Janie and her mental toughness. It’s always hard when you are at the top after the first day and you’ve got a target on your back,” Kirby added. “Janie maintained her composure even after some tough breaks in the round and showed everyone what I knew she was capable of the whole time.”
Not to be outdone, Union’s only male competitor, Roy, came out with a third place finish in the Men’s Compound Division.
“Lucas had to go and earn it. I told him first thing on Sunday morning that if he wanted to go win this thing he was going to have to be pretty aggressive and he went down swinging,” Kirby said. “He carried that confident mindset all the way through the shoot-off to break a third place tie, I was really proud.”
Rounding out the Bulldogs in individual competition, Lane finished fourth and Hicks finished seventh respectively in the Women’s Compound Division. Ashley Padgett (FR/Meade County, Ky.) finished 15th in the Women’s Bowhunter Division.
After all the team and individual events were completed, the Bulldogs finished third overall in the championships.
Earning 3D All American honors for the Bulldogs are listed below:
Hannah Lane – Women’s Compound
Jodi Hicks – Women’s Compound
Janie Ricks – Women’s Bowhunter
Lucas Roy – Men’s Compound
“I can’t begin to describe how proud I am of my entire team this weekend. They have worked extremely hard in practice leading up to this weekend and it obviously paid off,” Kirby added. “I told them to keep an extremely confident mindset all weekend and not to be intimidated by anything, they did exactly what I asked of them and the proof is in the awards we brought home.”
The 3D USIAC concluded the Bulldogs fall season and they will return to action in spring for their indoor season.
For more information, check out the resources below:
- The Union Bulldogs’ archery men’s website and women’s website
- Union College Bulldogs’ Athletics website
- The US Collegiate Archery Association Facebook page
- The Union College Bulldogs’ Facebook page
