Two Arizona archers are among top contenders

The nation’s finest archers will take center stage tomorrow (Friday) through Sunday at the third and final round of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Archery at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility in Phoenix.

Eight male and eight female archers will vie for the three remaining men’s spots and two women’s spots on the U.S. team that will compete at the Olympic Games in Beijing, China this summer.

Two Arizona athletes are among the leading contenders after the first two rounds in Conyers, Ga., and Chula Vista, Calif.

Brady Ellison, 19, from Glendale, leads the men’s side, and Lindsay Pian, 21, from Scottsdale, is fourth on the women’s side. The combined ranking points from all three selection rounds will determine the final standings for the U.S. Olympic Team.

Ellison has been one of the country’s top young archers in recent years. He was 2006 national target champion and a gold medalist at the 2006 Junior Olympic Archery Development National Championships. He competed on the U.S. team at last year’s Pan American Games.

Pian has won several national titles in junior and senior-level competition and also represented the United States at the Pan American Games. She is a student at Arizona State University.

The 70-meter ranking rounds will be held tomorrow (Friday, May 2), single-elimination match play on Saturday, and round-robin competition on Sunday. Scores will be tabulated and team selection announced on Sunday.

The public is invited to visit the Ben Avery Shooting Facility FITA range to watch the event. Spectators are advised to bring their optics and to check-in at the information booth for an event program. Souvenir team photos will be available for children.

The USA Archery event is hosted by the Arizona Game and Fish Department and Arizona State Archery Association.

The Ben Avery Shooting Facility is located at the northwest corner of I-17 and Carefree Highway. To get to the FITA archery range, take I-17 to the Carefree Highway exit (Exit 223) and go 1.5 miles west on Carefree Highway to the stoplight at the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s headquarters building. Turn right and follow the signs to the archery event.