Enjoying the experience… and the event.
Creating new personal highs standing next to some of the top archers in the world, three first-time participants for the
Grand Canyon University Club Archery team showed what six months of hard work could do in placing among the top seven flights in their respective divisions at Vegas Shoot 2026, widely recognized as the world's largest archery tournament. GCU sophomore
Luther Sweet finished 9
th among males in the Collegiate Bowhunter Division while qualifying for the 5
th flight (finishing 26
th overall), while Lopes' freshman
Dylan Arisumi took 10
th in Flight 7 among Bowhunters. In addition, Lopes' fast-shooting junior
Kyra Kelley – also making her first trip to the Paris and Horseshoe Hotels, who hosted the event on the Las Vegas Strip – finished 6
th in the Compound Barebow division, finishing with her best trio of arrows and 26 points in her final delivery. The three were perfect compliments to the Lopes' three returners,
Lopes' Student Leader Makayla Dickey, grad student
Jessica Hanneman and student-leader-in-waiting
Grant Gamez, who paced the team throughout the weekend.
"Vegas is a lot of pressure and can be a massively overwhelming event, so it was very encouraging to see how well our new archers performed," said Dickey. "Dylan pushed through technical difficulties on Saturday and shot two points below her PR. Kyra continues to impress, and her hard work at practice really showed in her performance. I watched Luther's passion for archery amplify tenfold. They were experiencing the archery community on a scale like never before, and it was fun to see it through their eyes."
Sweet – who wasn't even slated to attend the event until a spot opened up a month ago – rarely stopped smiling when on the range, and his scores showed why. The San Diego, California native achieved a perfect 30-point score in one round each day, qualifying for Flight 5 among Bowhunters and hitting between 265 and 274 points in all three rounds to finish with an overall total of 810. Meanwhile, the reserved Arisumi was a study in focus throughout the weekend, staying consistent in each round (256, 263 and 259 points), and winding up with a pair of bullseyes in her final round to grab 10
th place among female Bowhunters with a 778.
While Dickey seemed disappointed after setting a high bar for herself in her final appearance at the event, the numbers for her still set the tone for the team en route to Sunday's finals. The senior from El Dorado Hills, California, came out of the gates blazing on Friday with five bullseyes and 8 10's in a 278-point performance, topping that Saturday with only one arrow that didn't hit at least a 9 in qualifying for Flight 4. Dickey's overall finish of 832 points earned 8
th place in the Collegiate Bowhunter Female Division.
Hanneman also had to force a bit of a smile after a slow start in Sunday's final, but by then had already qualified for Flight 6 in Recurve Barebow - four flights higher than in 2025. Her 25 points in her final round Sunday helped her finish with 539 points and just out of the top 10 among Collegiate Females. Like his fellow returners, Gamez was blistering in Round 1, using an X-X-10 in Round 9 to nab an overall 262. Slow finishes in each of the final two rounds prevented Gamez from reaching the 260-point mark again, but his 757-point performance overall easily blew past his 2025 total to give him a 24
th-place finish in Flight 7 among Bowhunters.
"Looking at past scores, Jessie and Grant realized how far they had really come in a year, and despite hoping for a better outcome, they still improved," said Dickey. "It was a good reminder for them to give themselves grace. For me, the bright side is really the team and how much I've grown as a leader. My teammates reminded me of the role I've played in helping them reach their goals and in supporting them. It was rewarding to see their hard work pay off. I'm proud of how I juggled my leadership and competitor responsibilities this weekend."
The results for all Lopes' participants are below:
