Williamsburg, KY – The Patriots archery team tallied ten podium finishes during the individual shoot downs to pull away from the field and capture their fourth straight MSC Outdoor Archery Championships, Saturday afternoon at the UC All-Purpose Field.  The Patriots tallied 206 points over the two day championship as UC also completed sweep all three phases to take home the overall conference title.

UC garnered three conference champions on the day as Kaitlyn Shields, Cole Zeug, and Kennedy Sumpter all finished atop the podium.  Shields, the second-seed, won her first two matches by a combined 14 points to reach the semifinals.  There the Saginaw, MI native defeated Brooke Fannin of Pikeville 134-124, before she knocked off fourth-seed Kynsley Redmon in the championship match 137-134 to win gold.  It is Shields second straight conference title as she won indoor as well.  Teammate Madison Cox placed third in the event with a 3-1 record, including a 140-124 to cap off the day.  

The Patriots duo of Cox and Shields were named the Mid-South Conference Shooters of the Year.  It is Shields first time earning this accolade as Cox garnered this honor for the second time in her career.

Zeug entered the day as the seventh-seed and need a one arrow shoot-off to defeat Tanner Barker in the second round.  The reigning USA Archery Indoor national runner-up added two more wins, including a 144-140 win over KCU's Ben Fannin, to advance to the gold medal match.  Going up against top-seed Austin Taylor of Lindsey Wilson, Zeug carded at least a 29 in each end and shot a 147 to capture his first individual conference title.

Coming off of her record breaking performance Sumpter was in cruise control with three straight 6-0 wins to reach the championship match. In the gold medal she faced teammate Katie Karr, who was the second seed.  Karr won the first end, however, Sumpter took the next three ends by at last two points for the 6-2 victory.  Karr finished the day 3-1 to earn the silver medal.  Sierra Gray placed fourth in the event, earning five points for UC.

Ceridwyn Salyers opened the day with back-to-back 6-0 wins to reach the semifinals.  The freshman dropped the first end in her semifinal match, however won three straight ends to advance to the championship match.  Salyers ended up earning the silver medal, which aided her into being named the MSC Women's Freshman of the Year.

Lidia Quezada went 2-1 on the day to earn the women's recurve bronze medal, while Ayla Alibegovic notched off the top-seed en route to a fourth-place finish.

In the men's barebow, Tyler Woosley notched a third place finish. Woosley notched a pair of 6-0 wins, before defeating Jacob Suffridge of Pikeville in the bronze medal match 6-4.  The Leitchfield, KY native earned the MSC Men's Freshman of the Year honors.

UC had two scorers in both the men's recurve and the women's compound classes.  In men's recurve it was fourth-seed Reed Goodpaster that knocked off third seed Jacob Valentini for the bronze medal 7-3.  Goodpaster had a 7-3 win in the quarterfinals, while Valentini opened with a 6-0 win.

Madison Grimm went 4-1 on the day, including a one-point win in the quarterfinals to reach the bronze medal.  The bronze medal match against Marissa Harding was back-and-forth and ultimately decided on a one-arrow shoot-off to give Grimm the bronze medal.

Pikeville placed second in the outdoor championships with 150 points, while the Patriots won the overall standings 30-24 over Lindsey Wilson.

Cumberlands will return to the range May 19-22 when they travel to USA Archery Outdoor National Championship in Chula Vista, CA.

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