Five event records fall at 2026 Pan American Youth and Masters Championships in Medellín
The 2026 Pan American Youth and Masters Championships got off to a record-breaking start on Sunday and Monday, as five event records fell across the qualification round at the Unidad Deportiva Andrés Escobar in Medellín, Colombia.
Colombia's Michelle Dayana Cardona Alvarez, the reigning Pan American champion in compound under-18 women, announced her move up to compound under-21 women in emphatic fashion, posting 698 to break Adriana Castillo of Mexico's mark of 697 set in 2024 and claim the top seed heading into elimination. Compatriot Julián Gomez Zuluaga matched the moment in the compound under-21 men's event, firing 706 to surpass Damon Polowaniuk of Canada's previous record of 698.
Colombia's Jeronimo Agudelo Bedoya also cleared the bar in compound under-18 men with 699, while Guatemala's Mariana Saravia Berthet reset the compound under-18 women's mark with 691, improving on Maria Valentina Suárez of Colombia's score of 685 from 2018. Canada's Janna Hawash completed the quintet in recurve under-21 women, shooting 642 to better her own championship record of 631 set in San Salvador in 2024.
Among the returning champions to watch, US Virgin Islands archer Tatyana Muntyan once again proved she remains the standard-bearer in recurve 50+ women. The archer who set championship and Americas records in San Salvador — and added a world record in the mixed team event alongside Bruce Arnold — qualified first with 623 as she prepares to defend the title she captured two years ago.
Mexico and USA led all nations with six top qualifiers apiece, while Colombia contributed four. USA leads the overall entry with 48 archers — the largest delegation in the field — and arrives in Medellín carrying the weight of expectation after topping the medals table at the 2024 edition in El Salvador with 12 gold, eight silver and four bronze medals.
In the recurve under-21 men's field, there was a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard at 654: Mexico's Osvaldo Ramirez edged Guatemala's Christian Esthephen García and Argentina's Esteban Jesus Adriàn Silva for top honours on the strength of more arrows in the X-ring, the central scoring zone within the 10-ring used to resolve ties in qualification. A similar scenario played out in recurve 50+ men, where Colombia's Gildardo Anselmo Fuentes separated himself from USA’s Mark Williams and Mark Hainline — all three finishing on 635 — by the same X-ring tiebreak. Williams, notably, is the 2022 Pan American champion in the event.
Mexico's Axel Rangel Morales led recurve under-18 men with 666, while countryman Victor Eli Ortega Orozco shot 662 to top the recurve under-15 men rankings. Maya Casas Lara, also of Mexico, qualified first in recurve under-18 women with 641. USA’s Paige Lee posted the standout recurve score of the day among the younger divisions, firing 688 to top the recurve under-15 women's qualification.
Colombia's Andrés Hernandez, who won recurve under-21 men's gold in El Salvador before going on to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, sits sixth after the opening round with 642. Team USA’s Rick Stonebraker, who just turned 76, topped the barebow 50+ men's qualification with 607.
USA's Keegan Benton, posting 573 in barebow under-21 men, and Nathan Lee, who shot 621 to top the barebow under-15 rankings, also delivered standout performances to open the competition.
The 2026 Pan American Youth and Masters Championships — open to under-15, under-18, under-21 and 50+ competitors across recurve, compound and barebow — has grown rapidly since its inaugural standalone edition in Halifax, Canada, in 2022, when 139 athletes from 10 countries competed. This year's record field of 271 across 16 nations reflects the continued expansion of the sport across the Americas.
Competition continues with individual and team matches on Tuesday.
Top seeds: South American Youth Games
Full results on the event page.
- Recurve Under 21 Men: Osvaldo Ramirez, Mexico – 654
- Recurve Under 21 Women: Janna Hawash, Canada – 642
- Recurve Under 18 Men: Axel Rangel Morales, Mexico – 666
- Recurve Under 18 Women: Maya Casas Lara, Mexico – 641
- Recurve Under 15 Men: Victor Eli Ortega Orozco, Mexico – 662
- Recurve Under 15 Women: Paige Lee, USA – 688
- Recurve 50+ Men: Gildardo Anselmo Fuentes, Colombia, 635
- Recurve 50+ Women: Tatyana Muntyan, US Virgin Islands – 623
- Compound Under 21 Men: Julián Gomez Zuluaga, Colombia – 706
- Compound Under 21 Women: Michelle Dayana Cardona Alvarez, Colombia – 698
- Compound Under 18 Men: Jeronimo Agudelo Bedoya, Colombia – 699
- Compound Under 18 Women: Mariana Saravia Berthet, Guatemala – 691
- Compound Under 15 Men: Cole Cahill, Canada – 693
- Compound Under 15 Women: Sofia Soler, Mexico – 687
- Compound 50+ Men: Emilio Josue Sulvaran MacIas, Mexico – 667
- Compound 50+ Women: Maria Latorre, Puerto Rico – 640
- Barebow Under 21 Men: Keegan Benton, USA – 573
- Barebow Under 18 Men+Women: Sykes Lamensdorf, USA – 522
- Barebow Under 15 Men+Women: Nathan Lee, USA – 621
- Barebow 50+ Men: Rick Stonebraker, USA – 607
- Barebow 50+ Women: Melissa McAvoy, USA – 538
