RA Program Enjoys Major Success at 2009 U.S. Nationals

Hamilton, Ohio – The Resident Athlete Program enjoyed major success at the 2009 U.S. Nationals. Brady Ellison and Emily Blake won National Championships in the Senior Men’s Division and Junior Girls Division respectively. Heather Koehl and Jake Kaminski also had a great competition and won the Bronze Medal in the Senior Men’s Division and Women’s Senior Division.

The intense four day competition was actually cut down to just three days of competition after lightening storms deemed competition too dangerous for the first day. On the second day, Brady Ellison quickly developed a large lead that would prove the difference maker. On the first distance, Ellison broke Rick McKinney’s 22 year old record at 50m with an outstanding score of 345. Ellison said, “It feels good to beat that record. When records are that old, they need to be broken, I just wish I would have set the standard even higher than 345.” The record setting start would prove to be a valuable, as Ellison went on to win the competition. “It feels real good to be able to win 2 in a row and that I’m able to continue to push myself to do better each year,” explains Ellison.

Jake Kaminski shot extremely well finishing in third place just a few points behind Ellison. Kaminski explains, “I feel happy because I wanted a podium finish, but I’m not yet satisfied because I know I am capable of higher scores. Next year will be an even better year for me.” Kaminski went on to explain, “Next year I need to improve my focus, and I want to really push Brady and have him push me more in training so we can elevate our performance to the next level.”

In the Junior Women’s Division, Emily Blake won her first National Championship in two years. The final result was very surprising for Blake considering she switched from left to right handed in late November. Blake said, “I’m extremely happy with my performance, but next year I need to develop a more consistent mental routine so I can maintain better focus.”

Heather Koehl also won the Bronze Medal in the Senior Women’s Division. On the final day of shooting it was a close battle between Koehl, fellow Resident Athlete Megan Carter, and National Team Member Stephanie Miller. The final result ended with Koehl in 3rd, Miller in 4th and Carter in 5th.

Both Men’s and Women’s Teams won Gold in the Open Team Event. Shooting on the Men’s Team was Jake Kaminski, Josh Smith, and Tyler Schardt. Emily Blake, Megan Carter, and Heather Koehl competed for the Women’s Team. This marks the 5th time(out of 5) that the RA Program has won both the Men’s and Women’s Team events at competitions this year!

Head National Coach, Kisik Lee said of the results, “I’m very pleased with the results this year for the RA Program! This is very promising for our program because many of the athletes are so young. I think in order for us to continue to have successes like these, we will need to increase our physical strength and become mentally tougher, and this will be our focus for the next 3 months.”

We would like to thank our sponsors, including Easton Foundation and TaxMasters for lending financial support helping to cover travel and registration costs, Nike for the apparel, and Easton, Hoyt, Doinker, Beiter, Range-O-Matic Spinwings, BCY, and Limbsaver for their support in providing the Resident Athlete Program with equipment.

Ellison and Koehl Win U.S. Open Titles!

Hamilton, OH – Brady Ellison and Heather Koehl won Gold Medals at the 2009 U.S. Open over a field of extremely qualified competitors. Fellow Resident Athletes Jake Kaminski and Kristin Braun made it to the medals matches as well and finished 4th in their respective divisions.

Brady Ellison shot impressive scores throughout the day as he won his 3rd consecutive U.S. Open Title. Ellison said, “I feel like I got lucky this year, although I shot my best average ever. I need to shoot more and train harder. My last 2 matches were my lower matches, and next year I need to shoot 114 or higher all the way through.” Ellison will compete at the World Championships in Ulsan, South Korea next month. According to Ellison, “I think this gave me a lot of confidence. In the Olympic Round, I was able to step up and shoot the way I need to be successful at the World Championships. It gives me a lot of confidence and I’m excited for the

Heather Koehl had her best competition of the year winning the U.S. Open in the Women’s Division over 2 time Olympian Jennifer Nichols. In the semi-final match, Heather defeated team mate Kristin Braun 111-105. Heather then went on to defeat Nichols 109-106. When asked about her performance for the day, Heather explains, “It was fun! It felt like I was able to apply my training to the competition. When I got to the Gold Medal match I was just focused on shooting one arrow at a time. I wasn’t listening to what everyone else was saying or what Jenny was shooting. It feels so good to finally get something out of my hard work.”

Kristin Braun finished 4th overall and was defeated by Khatuna Lorig in the Bronze Medal Match by 1 point! Kristin will be competing with Brady Ellison at the upcoming World Championships. Kristin was excited about the competition and says, “The competition has highlighted the things I need to work on, and I have a plan of action from now till the time I leave. This performance has definitely left me hungry for more!”

Overall, the Resident Athlete Program Coaching Staff was extremely impressed with the performance of the athletes in the U.S. Open. Assistant Coach, Guy Krueger explained, “This year was all about developing a strong foundation in our archers for the next Olympics. I think it’s safe to say that they exceeded expectations. We really weren’t focused on the outcome of events, just preparing them technically and mentally to become champions in the next few years.”

Most of the Resident Athletes will now enjoy some time with their families before beginning training September 1st for training for the next year. Coach Lee says the next 3 months will focus on increasing physical strength and improving mental toughness!

We would like to thank our sponsors, including Easton Foundation and TaxMasters for lending financial support helping to cover travel and registration costs, Nike for the apparel, and Easton, Hoyt, Doinker, Beiter, Range-O-Matic Spinwings, BCY, and Limbsaver for their support in providing the Resident Athlete Program with equipment.

Heather Koehl: World Team Trials and Beyond

The moment my last arrow flew, I knew that I was in the top four for finishing the World Trials. I had worked my way up from 6th place and didn’t know how far I had climbed the ranks. Having to trust in some form changes only a day before was very hard on me, I had trained long and hard for this opportunity. So there we stood, waiting for the final postings of the points for the top spots. I ended up 4th, the alternate, only able to go if someone wasn’t able to. I was disappointed, but proud. I had worked my way out of a grueling 70m score the day before and made my way up to 6th for qualification. Shot almost the highest averages throughout the day for the round robins, regardless of winning the match, but wasn’t enough to make the team.

This was something that I could feed off of, something that I could take with me and push myself to the next level. In these past few weeks, I have been striving to make my mistakes less and less. Focusing only on what matters and getting myself both physically and mentally prepared for the next tournament, Target Nationals.