Archery is a sport of passion. JOAD kids go on to college and compete. College athletes become All-Americans, All-Academics, National Champions, and Paralympians. A select few reach the pinnacle of World Champions and Olympic medalists. The passion of archery has kept many people involved in the sport over the years as Coaches, businessman, and entrepreneurs, and mentors.
We’re looking for former college archers to add to this page. If you would like to be included, please send an email to the webmaster and we will contact you with a short questionnaire.
Bob Ryder was the first archer at James Madison University to capture the USIAC National Title. In 1973 he not only won USIACs, but also was named to the All-American team. An excellent and committed archer, Bob placed 3rd in 1974 and 4th in 1972. He earned invitations to compete in five U.S. Olympic Archery team trials, finishing in 6th place in 1972. From 1981 through 1986, Bob served on the board of governors for the National Archery Association. Continuing his passion for archery, Bob founded the Virginia Archery Association and is the head coach at James Madison University. As the Head Coach for James Madison University, Bob has built a tradition of JMU being one of the top schools for an archer to attend.
Four-time All-American, 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975, Don was also the USIAC Champion in 1975. Still an active recurve archer, you can find Don at many California tournaments. He currently works for Easton and is the Executive Director of the Easton Sports Foundation.
Sheri Rhodes is one of the premiere college coaches of all time. Taking over the Arizona State University archery program in 1977, Sheri maintained the tradition that Arizona State was ‘the place to go’ for archery for the next 16 years. Sheri was the head coach during the time such greats as Allison Williamson, Jay Barrs, Justin Huish and Rick McKinney were part of the program. In 1993, ASU administration cut the archery program. Sheri now lives in Sacramento, CA where she is a teacher and archery consultant. She continues to coach archery for private students and is the coach for the Stanford Archery team. She considers her greatest achievements to be coaching and teaching, which taught her to be organized and independent. Sheri has been an international coach for the United States many times, including four Olympic Games. A top archer in her own right, Sheri was an All-American in 1974, 1975 and 1976. Sheri’s word of advice: Don’t let others dictate your success.
After graduating from Texas A&M, Vic Wunderle has continued as a competitive archer. Consistently one of the top ranked American archers, Mr. Wunderle won a Silver medal at the 2000 Olympics, and a team bronze the same year in Sydney, Australia. Vic is a two-time Olympic team member, having competed in Athens in 2004.
Rick McKinney was USIAC National Champion three times (1981, 1982, 1983), and four-time All-American (1980, 1981, 1982, 1983) while he attended Arizona State. Known as one of the world’s greatest champions, his achievements are expansive including three-time World Champion (1977, 1983, and 1985), World Bronze in 1981, and World Target Team Champion in 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1983. In 1985, the men’s team won the bronze world medal. A four-time Olympian (1976, 1984, 1988, 1992), Rick brought home the individual silver in 1984, and the team silver in 1988. He has won the U.S. Target Nationals a record nine times. In 1996, his book ‘The Simple Art of Winning’ was published. Rick still actively competes in men’s recurve. He owns Carbon Tech, which makes carbon arrows and is based in Sacramento, CA.
The 1980 USIAC National Champion and also a four-time All-American, Tom Stevenson kept active in archery by serving as a National Archery Association Board member from 1988 through 1999. From 1994-1997, Tom served as the NAA President. Mr. Stevenson was the alternate for the 1980 Olympic Team.
Three time All-American and 3rd place at 1982 USIACs are just a few of the archery achievements for Cindy Gilbert. A top ranked archer during her college career, she continued competing after college. Cindy began her coaching career by being named by the U.S. Olympic Committee as the Development Coach of the Year in 1996. Cindy has also been a member of the U.S. International coaching staff for many of our international team competitions.
College All-American for the years 1988 and 1989, Kari went on to complete a degree in law. After a long break, she returned to the sport of archery by volunteering to be the Head Coach at Arizona State University Archery Club in 2005. Kari was also elected Chairman of the College Archery Program, a division of the National Archery Association in 2006. She lives and practices law in Phoenix. Kari continues to be a competitive archer and is coached by Dick Tone, one of our sports best known coaches.
Though we’ve yet to get Rob to complete a questionnaire for the “Where are they now” page of the website, we do know that he was an All-American at JMU. He currently is owner of Lancaster Archery and the service he provides to the archery community is unparalleled.
Setting a world record at the age of 13, Mike Gerard continued his archery career in college, making the All-American team four years in a row. After marrying and moving to Utah, Mike worked for Hoyt for several years, and continues to compete in both compound and recurve archery. He has been a JOAD coach in Utah for a number of years and owns his archery business, Jurassic Archery.
Adam was a three time World Champion. Winning in the compound division in Thailand for the World University Archery Championships in 2002, he led the Compound men’s team to the Team Championship as well. Adam was a three time All-American (2001, 2002, 2003), and USIAC National Champion in 2001 and 2003. He was an elite athelete before he joined the collegiate ranks and was the Compound Men's gold medalist at the Jr. World Championships in 1998 and 2000. Adam Wheatcroft who died at the age of 21 in 2003 will be remembered as a champion with integrity, sportsmanship, and character. See also - James Madison University Article