Tatyana Muntyan, representing the Virgin Islands Archery Federation, recently won a silver medal in the Masters category at the Easton Foundations Gator Cup in Newberry, Fla. The Gator Cup this year was the biggest to date, with nearly 700 archers. Muntyan came out of the qualification round seeded first. Battling her way through the elimination rounds, she lost a close match in the finals to Susan Bock of the United States.
With less than a week to prepare, she was off to Halifax, Canada, for the Masters Pan American Championships. There she joined Bruce Arnold to represent the Virgin Islands Archery Federation. In Halifax they competed in their individual events and in the mixed team event.
This week, archers from all across North, South and Central America, as well as the Caribbean, arrived in Halifax for an international archery competition, the first-ever Youth and Masters Pan Am Championships. The city welcomed archers aged under 18, under 21 and over 50 years old in the Olympic recurve, compound or barebow equipment classes.
More than 150 archers from 12 different countries stepped up to the shooting line from May 31 to June 5. It was a windy week at the BMO Soccer Centre. The winds were incredibly strong in the morning, and while they did temper a little bit in the afternoon, it was constantly a factor.
In windy conditions, Arnold finished 6th in the ranking round with a score of 532. Muntyan finished 2nd in the ranking round with a score of 587.
Seeded second, Muntyan won her first-round match in convincing fashion 6-0 against Lidia Ester Ferro of Argentina. In the semi-final, she faced Janis Grellner of the United States. In an incredibly close match, she lost 6-4 and moved on to the bronze medal match against Marie Fein. In the bronze medal match, after going five sets, Muntyan won her bronze medal in a 6-4 match against Fein. She needed a ten for the outright win. After a long hold, Muntyan’s last arrow was dead-center for the ten she needed for the win.
She is presently helping with coaching duties for the youth program on St. Thomas. She comes to the Virgin Islands from the United States via the Ukraine. She is an Olympian, having competed in the individual and team events (Seoul 1988). She has also won multiple World Championships and is the holder of an Indoor World Record, shooting a 579/600.
Having finished 6th in the ranking round, Bruce Arnold received a bye in the first round. In the quarter-finals he faced Stephen Vickers of the United States, who finished 3rd in the raking round. While it was a valiant effort, Arnold lost to Vickers 6-0. He had a great top 10 performance, finishing 8th overall. He has and continues to work setting up and supporting various archery clubs on St. Thomas
Following their individual successes, they teamed up in the mixed team event. This was the first international mixed team that the USVI has fielded in over two years. Finishing second in the ranking round as a team, they faced the team from Argentina, made up of Claudia Monica De Giusti and Daniel Cannelli. After a four-set match that was tied 4 to 4, a tie-break was required to find the winner.
In the tie-breaker, Argentina shot an 18 and the Virgin Islands shot a 17. The USVI mixed team went on to win a bronze medal. In the end, the Virgin Islands came away with an individual bronze medal for Mun and a mixed team bronze medal for Muntyan and Arnold. In the last two weeks, Muntyan has come home with individual silver and bronze medals and a mixed team bronze medal.
Claudia Monica De Giusti and Daniel Cannelli ?????
