Williamsburg, KY – The UC archery team continued to build on its strong performance at USA Outdoor Regionals with 11 podium finishes and kicked off the Mid-South Conference Outdoor Championships with 11 podium finishes in team rounds.  Cumberlands leads the overall conference team standings by 23 points. 

The day started with the head-to-head matches to close out regionals as the Patriots notched three individual region champions as Julia Shepherd, Katie Karr, and Whitney Vandiver all finished atop the podium.  Shepherd, who qualified as the eighth-seed, tallied a 5-0 record en route to gold.  The Corbin, KY native won her first two matches to advance to the quarterfinals where she knocked off top-seed Madison Cox 139-134.  Shepherd won her semifinal match in a one-arrow shoot-off before defeating Brooke Fannin 134-127 in the championship match.

After earning the second-seed, Karr went 4-0 with a pair of 6-0 wins to tally gold.  The senior surrender just two points over her final three matches as she outscored her competition 18-2, including a 6-0 win over Pikeville's Emma Terry in the gold medal match.

Cumberlands final gold medal came in the women's recurve as Vandiver captured the top honor.  After a first round bye, Vandiver limited her opponents to just two points as she tallied a pair of 6-0 wins, including in the gold medal match.  Ceridwyn Salyers earned the bronze medal going 3-1 on the day with a 6-2 win in the third-place match.

UC had three of the final four finishers in the women's compound division.  Madison Grimm earned UC's highest finish as she won her four matches before finishing as the regional runner-up.  The bronze medal match featured a pair of Patriots as Marissa Harding defeated Jazmine Trinidad 137-135 to finish third.

On the men's side, Cumberlands had a pair of archers finish runner-up in their respective division.  Jacob Valentini opened the men's recurve division with a 6-0 win, before defeating T Sanchez of Lindsey Wilson 6-4 to advance to the gold medal match.  In men's compound, Carson Sapp finished 4-1 to earn silver.  Sapp won three straight matches before needing a one arrow shoot-off to knock off top-seed Austin Taylor (Lindsey Wilson).

Tyler Woosley tallied a pair of 6-0 wins to start his day in the men's barebow competition.  After falling in the semifinals, Woosley rebounded with a 6-0 win over Lindsey Wilson's Jacob Cook to earn bronze.  In the men's fixed pin division it was seventh-seed Matthew England that edged out teammate Brandon Durham for the bronze medal 137-136. England finished the day with a 3-1 record. 

The Mid-South Conference Outdoor Championships began with the mixed teams rounds, where UC podiumed in all four divisions.  In the mixed barebow, Kennedy Sumpter and Woosley recorded a 6-0 win the semifinals before defeating Pikeville 6-2 in the championship match.

The duo of Madison Cox and Brandon Durham tallied an 11 point win in the semifinals before knocking off Kassidy Farris and Chase Herndon of Union in the gold medal match 151-148.

In mixed compound, the duo of Brooke Miller and Jase Boils used a one arrow shoot-off to reach the championship match before earning the silver medal.  Cumberlands earned bronze in the mixed recurve division.

The Patriots were dominant in the team rounds with earning five gold medals and two runner-up finishes.  The trio of Boils, Blaine Kostrzewski, and Cole Zeug was completely dominant as they didn't record anything lower than a 59 in every round.  The trio won their semifinal match 238-221, before earning gold with a 236-234 win over Union in the championship.

On the women's compound side, the top-seeded Patriots pulled away in the semifinals over Lindsey Wilson.  Miller, Hannah Moose, and Danielle Woodie notched a 228-219 win over Pikeville to earn gold.  UC also swept gold in the barebow division as both the men's and women's team advanced automatically to the championship match.  Elijah Crawford, Ty Pennington, and Woosley tallied a 6-0 win, while Makaylee Branham, Karr, and Sumpeter won in a shoot-off to earn gold.

In the women's recurve division, Salyers, Lidia Quezada and Vandiver won the fourth end to close the match with a  5-3 win over Lindsey Wilson earning the conference title.

Cumberlands garnered runner-up finishes in the fixed pins women's division as well as the men's recurve division.

UC has tallied 105 points to lead the team standings, while Pikeville is in second with 82 points followed by Lindsey Wilson with 77 points.

Cumberlands will return to the field Saturday, April 16, as they look to close out their fourth MSC conference title.  Head-to-head eliminations are set to begin at 9 a.m. on the UC All-Purpose field.

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