June 2, 2024
Brady Ellison has a busy but important few weeks ahead, starting with the 2024 U.S. Archery Field Nationals in Indiana and leading up to the Final Olympic Qualifying Tournament (FQT) in Turkey later this month.
Ellison is one of many athletes vying for honors at the Field Nationals over the next few days in Noblesville, Indiana, as well as a spot on the U.S. team for the 2024 World Archery Field Championships in Canada in September, which will be held as the World Field Trials.
From Indiana, Ellison will travel to Chula Vista, California to compete in the 2024 Easton Foundations Sokal Showdown (June 6-9) before traveling to Turkey with teammates Jack Williams and Trenton Cowles to compete for the remaining two spots in Paris. Currently, only one spot is open for the men, and Ellison will be the one to claim it.
The FQT will be held from June 14th to 17th, immediately followed by the Hyundai Archery World Cup Stage 3 from June 18th to 23rd.
This will be the first time that Noblesville, 28 miles north of Indianapolis, will host the U.S. Archery Field Nationals. Two of the past three years, the event was held in Darrington, Washington, before or after a visit to Yankton, South Dakota.
The venue is Strawtown Kotiwi (It is pronounced “Koteiwee”The park, which covers nearly 800 acres, has more than nine miles of trails and stretches along three miles of the White River, a major tributary of the Wabash River.
Home to woodland, historic wetlands and vast grasslands, Strawtown-Cottiwi Park is a stunning, biodiverse environment that’s home to a wide range of wildlife.
At the USA Archery Field Nationals, archers not only shoot at marked targets, but also at unmarked targets, which is much more difficult because archers must not only judge the size of the target face and the shooting angle, but also the shooting distance. This is the challenge that awaits the archers on Monday morning.
Ellison returns as the defending champion having won 12 months ago over Matt Noefel and Gabe Anderson.
Paige Pierce is the defending compound women’s title winner and will compete in Noblesville along with 2023 champion Molly Nugent (recurve women’s), Gary Yamaguchi (recurve men’s 50+) and Kari Caulfield (barebow women’s).
Pierce has won silver medals at the past two World Archery Field Championships in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy (2018) and Yankton, South Dakota (2022). Last time out, the United States won the silver medal in the men’s division with Dave Cousins.
Brady Ellison won consecutive gold medals in 2014 (Croatia) and 2016 (Ireland), with Jesse Broadwater and Steve Anderson winning silver both times. The United States won the men’s team event in 2012, 2014 and 2016.
Photos from Sunday’s practice day, as well as action images from each competition day, can be found here.
< Back to all news
