Colombian compound duo Lopez, Bonilla seed top at Pan American Championships

World number two Sara Lopez and ex-recurve archer Juan Fernando Bonilla shot 72-arrow, 50-metre ranking rounds of 702 and 705 points, respectively, to take top seeds for Colombia after qualification in the compound women’s and compound men’s events at the 2021 Pan American Championships in Monterrey, Mexico.

Bonilla struck a Herculean pose next to his target to celebrate.

“It feels really good. The wind was very hard for all of us, so I think I had a bit of luck. I just kept calm and did the best I could,” he said.

“It is very strange shooting one [person] to a target because we are normally four. I miss having people close on the line. But this is my first international competition as a compound archer, and I feel really proud of what I achieved.”

Guatemala’s Julio Barillas seeded second with 704 points, while reigning Pan American Games Champion Roberto Hernandez of El Salvador shot 702, which was good enough to rank third. Colombian men Sebastian Arenas and Daniel Munoz also hit 700.

The top three compound women over qualification all represented Colombia.

Lopez was the leader, followed by Nora Valdez and Alejandra Usquiano, who were both four points behind on 698.

“It means a lot to come back. You’re a bit out of sorts, and the nerves hit hard,” said Lopez. “But to see my results and the team’s results, it lets us know that we did a good job during the pandemic and we made good use of our time.”

Lopez is also the reigning Pan American Champion.

Barebow is making its major target archery event debut in Monterrey.

Mexican archers Fabienne Estrada and Manuel Leal qualified top. Estrada scored 494 points, Leal 592.

“I honestly didn’t expect to shoot what I shot,” said Leal. “It’s higher than what I was shooting before – and I got the result, which is the most important thing.”

Para athletes are also competing at these championships.

Omar Echeverria led the compound men’s open field with 671 points; Mariana Zuniga was the top qualifier in the compound women’s open event on 668; and USA woman Lisa Coryell and Brazilian man Helcio Gomes Perilo took the number one W1 seeds, scoring 558 and 612, respectively.

Competition continues in Monterrey on Wednesday, when continental champions will be crowned in the mixed team events.