US dominate archery Parapan Ams

The USA topped the medal standings at the II Para Archery Parapan American Championships held 23-29 May in San Jose, Costa Rica, capturing nine individual medals, three which were gold.

Competitions took place in open classes for recurve, compound and W1, for both men and women.

The USA swept the men’s open recurve. Michael Lukow took gold, followed by teammate and defending world champion Eric Bennett. Timothy Palumbo completed the podium. The women’s side was an all-Brazilian contest, with Toronto 2015 silver medallist Thais Silva Carvalho taking the top prize. Teammate Fabiola Dergovics took silver and Patricia Layolle left with bronze.

Karen Van Nest – who transferred from shooting to archery before the London 2012 Paralympic Games and took silver in Toronto 2015 – captured Canada’s lone gold after winning the women’s compound. Brazil’s Jane Karla Gogel took silver and the USA’s Samantha Tucker finished with the bronze.

On the men’s side of the compound open, the USA’s Ben Thompson looked strong in his campaign for his Paralympic debut after capturing the gold, followed by Canada’s Kevin Evans and the USA’s Gabriel Marcozzi.

The W1 was an all-USA showing; Jerry Shields took first, Charles Lear in second and Lisa Coryell took third.

Complete results from the II Para Archery Parapan Am Championships can be found on the event website.