Team USA rolls on
Team USA continued its successful run at the 2023 Parapan American Games on Monday, notching wins in basketball, rugby, goalball, archery and more.
The women’s basketball team steamrolled Peru 80-12 to improve to 2-0. Led by Courtney Ryan’s 14 points and two other double-digit scorers, the U.S. outscored its opponent 26-2 by halftime.
The men’s basketball team also cruised to an 81-44 victory over Puerto Rico behind 16 points from retired Marine Lance Corporal Jorge Salazar. The game also marked newcomer A.J. Fitzpatrick’s first international basket en route to an 8-point outing.
“It feels awesome,” Fitzpatrick said. “I didn’t get a whole lot of playing time in our first game but this game it felt relieving to finally get my first 2.”
The rugby team continued its stellar play with a 54-36 triumph over Brazil. Captain Chuck Aoki recorded 20 tries while Zion Min Redington added 10.
“We’re in a great mindset right now,” Sarah Adam said. “We were able to keep playing smart, methodical USA rugby. That’s exactly what we’re going to do leading into Canada. Nothing changes.”
The men’s and women’s goalball teams also won handily, beating Venezuela 15-5 and Chile 9-1 respectively. Built on goals from five different players, the women especially dominated.
It wasn’t all positive for the U.S. on Monday, however. The CP football team dropped its second straight match, falling to Brazil 2-0 after an opening loss versus Argentina by the same score.
In the pool, Team USA picked up five medals across 17 swimming events. Cali Prochaska (1:13.54) won gold in the S9 women’s 100m butterfly while Taylor Winnett and Mikaela Jenkins took silver and bronze in the S10 women’s 400m freestyle.
The U.S. also registered three Judo bronze medals through Katie Davis, Richard Ties and Benjamin Goodrich. In shooting, Stetson Bardfield saw gold in the R5 mixed 10m rifle prone SH2.
Though the table tennis and boccia teams struggled, archery and wheelchair tennis both proved fruitful. Jason Tabansky continued his archery win streak with a semifinal victory while Connor Stroud and the tandem of Dana Mathewson and Maylee Phelps dominated in wheelchair tennis.
