They shot.
They scored.
And, now, they are being honored.
Pennsylvania College of Technology archers Michelle Wright, for the third time in her career, and Ryan Rambo, for his first, earned all-American status after competition Friday through Sunday at the United States Intercollegiate Archery Championships in Sparta, Ill. Scores from the outdoor competition are combined with those shot at indoor nationals earlier in the year to determine all-Americans.
Wright, a senior from Kendall, N.Y., finished seventh individually in the women's compound division and helped the Penn College women's team to a third-place overall finish. The Lady Wildcats beat UCLA, lost to James Madison and then topped Stanford to end third. Also on the squad were Lindsey Fackler (sophomore/Halifax) and Sarah Wilson (junior/Tyrone).
Rambo, a junior from Millville, placed 10 th in men's compound for the second year in a row, and keyed the college's male compound team, that included Nate Potteiger (senior/Middletown), sophomore Brock Smith (Brookville) and freshmen Jarrod Chandler (Gillett) and Brad Ferguson (Lewistown), to a third-place finish. The Wildcats defeated Dine College, fell to Atlantic Cape College and then stopped Long Beach State University. Individually, Chandler placed eighth.
"It wasn't unexpected," coach Chad Karstetter said of his all-Americans. "They both had great scores going into the event with their indoor scores, and, being that they were shooting exceptionally well at this time of the year, we were hoping that they would be all-Americans – and they were."
Since 1997, 15 Penn College archers have been named all-Americans 30 times. Wright is the sixth Wildcat to achieve the honor three times and the first woman to do so.
Because of their all-American status, Wright and Rambo qualified for and are expected to participate with the 16-member USA team that will travel to Venezuela for competition in June.
Wright, Rambo, Chandler and Wilson also teamed to give Penn College a third-place finish in mixed compound competition.
Overall, Penn College finished fifth in a 23-team field, which Karstetter thought was "great, considering we only had three teams competing instead of four (the college has no female recurve team)." The Wildcats were just five points out of fourth place.
"I was very pleased with the way all of our teams did," Karstetter said, pointing out that "an equipment failure on the qualifying day" proved costly to the men's recurve team of Chris Adams (senior/Pen Argyl), Jason Kornbau (senior/Felton) and James Fanelli (freshman/Glastonburg, Conn.), forcing it into the bottom bracket and costing it a potentially higher finish.
In addition to their accomplishments on the field of play, three Wildcats – Wright, Potteiger and Adams – were named academic All-Americans for being in the top 25 percent of their class and maintaining a grade-point average of 3.0 or better. This is the third straight year that Wright has been an academic all-American.
"They are not only talented with the bow, they are very smart, also," Karstetter said.
Wright, Rambo, Potteiger, Adams, Kornbau and Mark Lambert (sophomore/Venus) have graduated, but the loss of Wright may be felt most. In addition to being one of only two female Penn College archers ever to be named an all-American, she set state collegiate indoor records during both her junior and senior seasons, scoring a 564 in 2006 and then bettering that with a 570 earlier this year.
They scored.
And, now, they are being honored.
Pennsylvania College of Technology archers Michelle Wright, for the third time in her career, and Ryan Rambo, for his first, earned all-American status after competition Friday through Sunday at the United States Intercollegiate Archery Championships in Sparta, Ill. Scores from the outdoor competition are combined with those shot at indoor nationals earlier in the year to determine all-Americans.
Wright, a senior from Kendall, N.Y., finished seventh individually in the women's compound division and helped the Penn College women's team to a third-place overall finish. The Lady Wildcats beat UCLA, lost to James Madison and then topped Stanford to end third. Also on the squad were Lindsey Fackler (sophomore/Halifax) and Sarah Wilson (junior/Tyrone).
Rambo, a junior from Millville, placed 10 th in men's compound for the second year in a row, and keyed the college's male compound team, that included Nate Potteiger (senior/Middletown), sophomore Brock Smith (Brookville) and freshmen Jarrod Chandler (Gillett) and Brad Ferguson (Lewistown), to a third-place finish. The Wildcats defeated Dine College, fell to Atlantic Cape College and then stopped Long Beach State University. Individually, Chandler placed eighth.
"It wasn't unexpected," coach Chad Karstetter said of his all-Americans. "They both had great scores going into the event with their indoor scores, and, being that they were shooting exceptionally well at this time of the year, we were hoping that they would be all-Americans – and they were."
Since 1997, 15 Penn College archers have been named all-Americans 30 times. Wright is the sixth Wildcat to achieve the honor three times and the first woman to do so.
Because of their all-American status, Wright and Rambo qualified for and are expected to participate with the 16-member USA team that will travel to Venezuela for competition in June.
Wright, Rambo, Chandler and Wilson also teamed to give Penn College a third-place finish in mixed compound competition.
Overall, Penn College finished fifth in a 23-team field, which Karstetter thought was "great, considering we only had three teams competing instead of four (the college has no female recurve team)." The Wildcats were just five points out of fourth place.
"I was very pleased with the way all of our teams did," Karstetter said, pointing out that "an equipment failure on the qualifying day" proved costly to the men's recurve team of Chris Adams (senior/Pen Argyl), Jason Kornbau (senior/Felton) and James Fanelli (freshman/Glastonburg, Conn.), forcing it into the bottom bracket and costing it a potentially higher finish.
In addition to their accomplishments on the field of play, three Wildcats – Wright, Potteiger and Adams – were named academic All-Americans for being in the top 25 percent of their class and maintaining a grade-point average of 3.0 or better. This is the third straight year that Wright has been an academic all-American.
"They are not only talented with the bow, they are very smart, also," Karstetter said.
Wright, Rambo, Potteiger, Adams, Kornbau and Mark Lambert (sophomore/Venus) have graduated, but the loss of Wright may be felt most. In addition to being one of only two female Penn College archers ever to be named an all-American, she set state collegiate indoor records during both her junior and senior seasons, scoring a 564 in 2006 and then bettering that with a 570 earlier this year.