OSU archer helps team place at Universiade

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Oklahoma State Archery Club member Brogan Williams helped her Team USA to a second place finish in the 2015 Universiade games in Gwangju, South Korea.

Williams, the only athlete from OSU participating in the Universiade, is known as one of the best collegiate archers in the country. Over the last six years, she has competed in 91 different competitions, placing first in 41 of them, second in 13 and third in 14.

“What I love about archery the most is that it’s a sport absolutely anyone can do,” Williams said. “So getting to be in the games gives me the experience I need if the compound sport becomes part of the Olympics.”

Williams, a junior majoring in psychology, traveled to Gwangju with her family for the nine-day trip. Though just 19 years of age, she competed against other university students from across the world, some of them 27 or 28 years old.

Her teammates for the compound team women’s event included Carlissa Cochran, from the University of South Carolina, and Mackenzie Kieborz, from Texas A&M University.

“I loved the group I was with,” Williams said. “They were great shooters and great people to hang out with.”

Each athlete received a participation diploma with the official coin of the Universiade games. Winners received an additional diploma, in addition to their medallion, and a specially engraved stuffed “Nuribi,” the official mascot of the 28th Summer Universiade with “Medalist” monogramed on the back.

“The competition was tougher than I thought it would be and the scoring reflected that,” said mother and coach Shawna Williams. “The whole thing was great. I would encourage any student to work toward this. I know we have athletes at OSU who could have made it to the games if they had tried out. It is truly second only to the Olympics.”

The Universiade is a 12-day event that brings about 20,000 student athletes from 170 countries together to compete in different events. It is the largest multi-sport event after the Olympics and is held every odd-numbered year and alternates between summer and winter games. The U.S. set a personal record this year, winning 54 medals in total, and placed fifth overall.

For the original story about Brogan Williams and the rest of the archery team at OSU, click here. The official 2015 Universiade website can be found at gwangju2015.com. The Archery Club webpage can be found at archery.okstate.edu.

Story by Matt Cohlmia

PHOTOS: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ostatenews/sets/72157655705024909