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Five event records fall at Pan American Youth and Masters Championships

25 May 2026

Medellin, Colombia

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The 2026 Pan American Youth and Masters Championships got off to a record-breaking start on Sunday and Monday, as five event records fell during qualification 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 championship mark of 697 set in 2024 and claim the top seed heading into elimination.

Compatriot Julián Gomez Zuluaga matched the feat in compound under-21 men, shooting 706 to surpass Damon Polowaniuk of Canada’s previous record of 698.

Colombia’s Jeronimo Agudelo Bedoya also rewrote the record books 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 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 won two years ago.

Another headline name in Medellin, Colombia’s Andrés Hernandez, sits sixth in recurve under-21 men after qualifying with 642. Hernandez won gold at the 2024 Pan American Youth and Masters Championships before going on to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games later that year.

Colombia's Julián Gomez Zuluaga celebrates.

Mexico and the USA led all nations with six top qualifiers each, while Colombia contributed four.

The United States arrives in Medellin carrying the weight of expectation after topping the medals table at the previous edition in El Salvador with 12 gold, eight silver and four bronze medals.

Elsewhere, Mexico’s Osvaldo Ramirez led a three-way tie at the top of recurve under-21 men on X-count – the X-ring being central scoring zone within the 10-ring used to resolve ties in qualification – while USA’s Paige Lee posted one of the standout recurve scores of the competition with 688 to top recurve under-15 women.

Team USA’s Rick Stonebraker, who recently turned 76, qualified first in barebow 50+ men with 607.

Open to under-15, under-18, under-21 and 50+ athletes across recurve, compound and barebow, the championships have grown rapidly since their inaugural standalone edition in Halifax in 2022.

This year’s record field of 271 athletes from 16 nations reflects the continued growth of the sport across the Americas.

Competition continues on Tuesday with individual and team elimination matches.