GELLENTHIEN NATIONAL ARCHERY RUNNER-UP IN MEN'S COMPOUND

GELLENTHIEN NATIONAL ARCHERY RUNNER-UP IN MEN'S COMPOUND

Braden Gellenthien

Complete results

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Aug. 4, 2006 -- James Madison junior archer Braden Gellenthien (Hudson, Mass./Hudson) had the best score over the last two days of competition but finished second in the men's compound-bow competition at the 122nd U.S. National Target Championships.

Dave Cousins (Standish, Maine) won his eighth consecutive national title with a score of 2,784 over the four days of shooting. Gellenthien took second with 2,781 points, and Reo Wilde (Pocatello, Idaho) finished third with 2,779 points.

Gellenthien scored 1,389 points in the second FITA round, shot on Thursday and Friday, while Cousins shot a 1,387. But Cousins had outscored Gellenthien 1,397 to 1,392 in the first FITA round, shot Tuesday and Wednesday.

JMU junior Jedd Greshock (Shenandoah, Pa./Shenandoah Valley) placed fifth with 2,761 points. Sophomore Stephen Schwade (Summerville, S.C./Monroe-Woodbury, N.Y.) moved from 10th to seventh on the final day and finished with 2,752 points. Sophomore Michael Ashton (Watertown, Conn./Watertown) was 29th with 2,611 points.

Sophomore Brittany Lorenti (Trumbull, Conn./Saint Joseph) finished fifth among American competitors in the women's compound-bow division with 2,706 points. Junior Joayn Fleury (Westford, Vt./Bellows Free Academy Fairfax) placed ninth with 2,611 points.

Jamie Van Natta (Toledo, Ohio), who set a world record of 1,402 for a single FITA on Wednesday, claimed her third consecutive women's compound-bow national title, finishing the tournament with a score of 2,786.

In men's recurve (Olympic) bow, junior Jacob Wukie (Oak Harbor, Ohio/Fremont Ross) finished sixth with a 2,569, and sophomore Nick Kale (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) was 48th with a 2,148.

The tournament continues Saturday with the 10th annual U.S. Open, a head-to-head elimination (Olympic) round featuring the top 64 qualifiers from each division. Saturday's round is the same format used during the Olympic Games and features both U.S. and international competitors.