Journal-News.com

Some college students spend their summers working to earn money, while others opt to travel and see the world.

Eighteen-year-old Hamilton resident Erika Anschutz does both.

Anschutz has been competing in international archery events since she was 13, traveling to places such as the Czech Republic, France, England, Denmark, Spain, Mexico and, earlier this month, Leipzig, Germany, where she helped the U.S. team set two world records and win a bronze medal.

Two years ago, at the age of 16, she signed a professional contract.

"This year alone I've made around $30,000," said Anschutz, who will be a sophomore at Miami University.

"Most of the money comes from winning tournaments, but I also get some money for traveling and other bonuses," she added.

Anschutz is sponsored by Hoyt, a bow manufacturer, and Easton, a company which makes arrows in addition to its more well-known line of baseball bats.

At the FITA World Championships in Leipzig, Anschutz competed against 72 other archers from 39 countries in the compound bow competition.

She dominated the 144-arrow qualification round with a U.S. national and World Championship record score of 1,408. That marked the first time in the nearly 100-year history of the world championship tournament that any archer, male or female, surpassed the 1,400-point mark.

The top 32 qualifiers were seeded on a bracket, and Anschutz won her first two 12-arrow matches by scores of 115-106 and 116-113 before being upset in the quarterfinals 116-111.

Additionally, Anschutz and U.S. teammates Kendall Nicley, of Gorham, Maine, and Jamie Van Natta, of Toledo, set a pair of world records with their combined qualification round scores and their combined quarterfinal round scores.

"I don't think a lot of people really know how much goes into it," Anschutz said. "They just think of it as something they did at camp when they were 5 or 6. But there's so much more that goes into it than pulling a bow back and letting it go."

Anschutz got started in the sport at age 6, but it wasn't at camp.

"I used to compete, mainly at the state and regional level — nothing like what she's doing now," her father Steve said. "But I was doing a lot of practicing and my wife was working long hours, so I would bring Erika along and she started showing an interest in wanting to shoot."

Since then, she's accumulated 37 national championships and nine world championship medals — three gold, three silver and three bronze.

Anschutz said she practices four or five times a week in the backyard of her families' home on New London Road. She moved to Hamilton from Grand Island, Neb., in June with her parents.

She is majoring in psychology and pre-law at Miami University, with a minor in Spanish.

"I either want to be a lawyer, or go into the FBI," she said.

As for her future in archery, she isn't as sure.

"The Olympics aren't a huge goal of mine, but I would like to try shooting a recurve bow in the next year or so," she said, referring to the type of bow used in Olympic competition.

"I'm just going to see where it takes me."

C

ontact this reporter at (513) 820-2193 or jmorrison@coxohio.com.