Alex Bachrach

Alex Bachrach

Joint Mathematics & Economics

Seventh College

Senior Nickname: Alex Catscratched

USA Archery Level 3 Coach
2022-2024 Team Captain
2024-2025 President
2021-2025 SGA Competitive Team Member

Accolades
2025 SGA Apollonian Award
2023 West Regionals Compound Mixed Team Bronze 
2024 West Regionals Men’s Compound Team Bronze
2024 SIACC Compound Mixed Team Gold
2024 West Regionals Compound Mixed Team Gold

Alex Bachrach’s archery journey began the way many great stories do with a childhood movie moment. After watching The Avengers as a kid and instantly gravitating toward Hawkeye, Alex picked up a bow for the first time through a Groupon his mom found. What started as curiosity quickly turned into commitment, and over 13 years later, Alex has become a cornerstone of UCSD archery.

Alex joined Sun God Archery after stumbling across the club while walking through Library Walk during tabling season. Like many others, he tried it out on a whim and never looked back. When asked to describe his archery journey in one word, Alex chose “joyous.” Despite the pressure of competition and the inevitable mental walls that come with the sport, Alex learned to approach archery through mindfulness. Treating competitions as “just another practice” allowed him to stay grounded, happy, and focused.

More than medals or scores, what mattered most to him was the people, the teammates he now considers family. One of the biggest challenges Alex faced throughout his career was mastering the mental game. Shot by shot focus and trust in the process became central to his success, helping him remain calm and connected to his roots even in high-pressure moments. As a leader within SGA, Alex often reminded himself and others not to lose sight of why the club exists in the first place. Through SGA, Alex discovered how deeply he values community and giving back. Rather than focusing solely on personal achievement, his college experience taught him the importance of nurturing and growing something meaningful for others, a lesson that will carry far beyond archery.

One of Alex’s most unforgettable (and funniest) memories came during the 2024 Westies, when a scoring mix-up led him to believe he was shooting for bronze only to later realize he was actually competing in the gold medal match against UCLA. Completely unaware, Alex ended up shooting some of his best ends of the tournament.

Looking ahead, Alex plans to take a short break from competitive archery, but his connection to the sport isn’t ending anytime soon. With coaching certifications already under his belt, he hopes to coach introductory archery in the future. Professionally, he’s exploring opportunities on the East Coast, potentially in New York, within asset or portfolio management ready to see where the bread takes him.

Cadence Seymour

Cadence Seymour

Molecular Synthesis Major, Minor in Biology

Sixth College

Senior Nickname: Mouse Mauler

USA Archery Level 2 Instructor
2024-2025 External Affairs
2022-2025 SGA Competitive Team Member

Cadence started archery in her second year when “Alex shoved a flier in her hand”. She was always interested in archery so she decided to attend a workshop. She was looking for something to do outside of classes and science and fell in love with not only archery but with the people she met.

Her favorite part of being a part of Sun God Archery was the people, hands down. She has met people that she hopes she will be friends with forever, people in her field of study and people in very different fields. She loves archery because of the calm she feels when shooting and the competition with herself. She loves SGA because she gets to pair that with the wonderful people that make this club what it is. She has made connections with people that have spread outside of the club, and that's one of the key things that have kept her coming back year after year.

Cadence’s long term goal is to get into an MD/PhD program. In the meantime, she has gotten her EMT certification and is currently working full-time as an EMT in San Diego while continuing to work as a researcher in her lab. She is a very smart, passionate, and hard-working person who is able to manage the countless things in her life. She will make an amazing physician-PI some day and we wish her all the best with her future ventures!

Jonathan Weakliem

Jonathan Weakliem

Computer Science

Revelle College

Senior Nickname: 1 Arrow Purgatory

USA Archery Level 3 Coach
2021-2025 SGA Competitive Team Member

Accolades
2024 National Archery Scholarship Tour Rank 7, Collegiate Mens Recurve Division
2025 National Archery Scholarship Tour Rank 7, Collegiate Mens Recurve Division

Jonathan first started archery in his freshman year in fall 2021. He had played ice hockey for a long time and wanted to branch out and try his hand at a new sport in college. He also says that clubs are a great way to make new friends at the infamous UC Socially Dead.

Jonathan’s favorite part about being in SGA was being included in the club’s community. He met many amazing coaches, teammates, friends, and his girlfriend through the club, and over the years has made countless memories with all of them. He’s going to miss everyone in the club dearly after graduation.

Through the years, Jonathan has gone to various tournaments during both indoor and outdoor seasons. Historically he’s been seen at around 3 of the major tournaments each year, but this past year he went to 5 of them. SIACC has always been his favorite tournament because it’s a great way to get to know archers from other schools and socialize with everyone. He also likes that the tournament has the most official rounds (ORs), meaning it has the highest chance of getting into one arrow shootoffs (which he is well known for getting into).

After graduation, Jonathan is moving north to the Bay Area to be a software engineer at Meta. We wish Jonathan the best in his new career and look forward to seeing where he goes.

Lucy Wang

Lucy Wang

Applied Math

Revelle College

Senior Nickname: Arsi Jr.

USA Archery Level 3 Coach
2022-2025 SGA Competitive Team Member

Accolades
2023 SIACC Women’s Recurve 5th Flight winner 
2023 SIACC Recurve Team Bronze
2025 Indoor Scholarship Tour Collegiate Recurve Women 2nd Place
2025 SIACC Recurve Team Bronze 
2025 SIACC Women’s Recurve 2nd Flight Winner
Various other local tournaments winning gold

Lucy first began archery at the beginning of her freshman year, when her friend from high school brought her to an SGA workshop . She saw one of the club archers demonstrate recurve at 70 meters and hit an X, and thought that she would be able to brag if she could do that.

As with any sport, archery has its own struggles, but the process of working through these also leads to personal growth. For Lucy, it was her confidence. She started not only archery, but college as a very timid person. She was afraid of asking the coaches questions that might make her feel foolish and any new form or equipment change would sometimes make her feel like she wasn’t good enough as an archer. Occasional bad days in archery would significantly impact her mental readiness, especially during tournaments. However, through stubbornness and dedication, she kept going. Seeing how her teammates always cheered each other on, regardless of their performance, she built confidence in herself and continued training. She learned to trust the teachings of coaches and teammates, and learned that it is ultimately up to her to execute a shot (in her words “not the stupid wind or the arrows”), so she needs to be confident.

After graduation, Lucy is going to take a year off to prepare for the next cycle of graduate applications, and plans to eventually get a PhD in math. We wish Lucy the best in her academic and future pursuits, and are excited to see where her passion leads her.

Kiichiro Wang

Kiichiro Wang

ICAM, Minor in Computer Science

Muir College

Senior Nickname: Yep:D Chef!!!

USA Archery Level 2 Instructor
2022-2023 External Affairs
2023-2024 Social Chair
2022-2025 SGA Competitive Team Member

Kiichi first started archery in Fall 2022 during his freshman year at UCSD. His very first experience with SGA came when he was flagged down by former team captain and president Alex Bachrach, which quickly led him to attend two workshops and sign up for Ignite. His interest in archery actually began just a month before coming to UCSD, when he picked up a very questionable $40 Amazon compound bow and practiced in his Pennsylvania backyard, an experience that almost resulted in shooting his neighbor’s window and his own car. Despite the rough beginnings, that initial curiosity turned into a lasting commitment to the sport and the team.

Over the years, Kiichi mainly competed in qualifiers and attended SIACC every year, with the occasional appearance at tournaments like CORR and Vegas. SIACC has always been one of his favorites because of the pure energy radiating from everyone, the banter, and the friendly competition of shooting next to similar opponents from other schools (including the humbling experience of getting swept by the bottom seed every now and then). That said, Vegas easily takes the top spot for him. Shooting in a casino alongside famous professional archers felt unreal, and getting to spend extended time with teammates he didn’t always get to see made the whole experience even better.

After graduating, Kiichi will be remaining in the San Diego area for at least the next six months while finishing summer classes. His current post-grad plan is, in his own words, being unemployed, with hopes of eventually breaking into the game development industry. We wish Kiichi the best of luck as he figures out his next steps and are excited to see where his creativity and passion take him next.

Ryan Pearce

Ryan Pearce

Chemistry

Revelle College

Senior Nickname: Ryan “6th Place” Pearce

USA Archery Level 3 Coach
2024-2025 SGA Competitive Team Member

Accolades
2025 Vegas Shoot Barebow Flight 9, 6th place
Mario Kart, 6th place
SIACC Placement, 6th flight
Our Hearts, 6th place <3

Ryan began shooting archery in his junior year after transferring and discovering the club at a tabling event. The summer after, he bought his own bow and attended the beginner workshops during his senior year. He then went on to compete at every major tournament we went to, igniting his competitive nature and solidifying himself as one of the pillars of SGA and our Bearbros team. Even off the field, Ryan brought his energy and supportive attitude everywhere he went, lighting up the days of everyone around him.

Ryan’s fondest memories come from the 2025 Vegas shoot, where he said that even though he didn’t shoot as well as he would have liked and ended up winning money, he more so remembers the time he spent with his newfound friends. The travel to and from Vegas and the tournament itself were filled with many stories and fun moments that hold a special place in his heart. On the other hand, Ryan’s weirdest archery memory takes place just before day 1 of Westies, when our then-president, Alex, had bought a toy Minecraft bow, and we were using it to shoot at each other and goof around. Naturally, as archers, we could not let such a great opportunity go to waste, and by the end of the night, we had kitted out the Minecraft bow with a taped-on sight and stabilizer to shoot freeze-dried apples off of Alex’s head. The next day, at the tournament, we attempted to check in the Minecraft bow with the DOS, but spoiler alert, it did not pass inspection. :’(

As a recently certified L3 coach, his advice for new archers is to enjoy the sport and practice mindfulness during the shot process. He also advises taking advantage of our coaches when they’re on the field, information is key, and our coaches are always willing to help, no matter the issue.

Ryan will be moving back home to Mission Viejo, where he will continue his job search in chemistry and explore archery coaching opportunities. We thank you, Ryan, for your time with SGA and wish you all the best in your job search and your future endeavors.

Vincent Vo

Vincent Vo

Computer Science

Warren College

Senior Nickname: Rinehart Brick Wall

USA Archery Level 3 Coach
2024-2025 SGA Competitive Team Member

Accolades
2025 West Regionals Barebow Mixed Teams Silver
big back champion (awarded by himself)

Vincent joined the club just this past year, but he wasted no time making his presence felt. Even though his time with the team was shorter than desired, he quickly became a reliable yet chaotic addition to the range. Whether he was focused on his own progression or contributing to his Pokémon card addiction, Vincent brought a unique perspective to the SGA community.

When asked about his highlight of the year, Vincent didn’t point to a specific medal or a high score. Instead, his fondest memory was simply the honor of being in our coach, Christian Stoddard’s presence. While others might have focused on scores or equipment, Vincent clearly valued the unrivaled aura and wisdom that comes with being part of this specific group of people.

For the new archers, Vincent leaves behind a very specific technical "cure." He says that according to the “gospel” of Kisik Lee, "the cure to archery cancer is NTS.” In other words, Vincent is saying that rather than overthinking every mistake, focus on building a consistent, fundamental foundation and trust the process to help you refine your form over time. Eventually your shots will feel better and what appears on the paper will be a reflection of the consistency and effort you’ve put into your training.

Following graduation, Vincent will be continuing his career at General Atomics as a Software Developer. We thank Vincent for the fun he brought to the club this year and wish him the best of luck in his role at General Atomics!

Zoe Matsunaga

Zoe Matsunaga

Biochemistry

Roosevelt College

Senior Nickname: Lil Pharma

USA Archery Level 3 Coach
2024-2025 Vice President
2022-2025 SGA Competitive Team Member

Accolades
2023 West Regionals Fixed Pin Women’s Qualifiers 2nd Place
2023 West Regionals Fixed Pin Mixed Team 3rd Place
2024 SIACC Women’s Fixed Pin Team Silver
2025 SIACC Women’s Compound Team Bronze

Since joining the club, Zoe has been a consistent presence at practices and events, eventually becoming a key part of our competitive team. Beyond her growth as a shooter, she’s stood out for her commitment to the social side of the club, always making an effort to connect with members across different skill levels and bow styles and giving a helping hand when needed.

Zoe’s favorite memory from the club was our trip to the UC Irvine SIACC qual this past year. For her, that tournament was the turning point where she formed her closest friendships, not just with our own members but with archers from other schools as well. She especially enjoyed doing the post-dinner Seaside Bakery run with friends and chatting up while munching on delicious donuts (trust us, they’re worth it).

As someone who understands how difficult it can be to find a solid community in college, Zoe encourages new shooters to be proactive. Her advice to incoming archers is to step outside of your bow division and make an effort to talk others in different divisions. Shooting a certain division does not limit you to that group of people; we all shoot the same sport, so don’t let that deter you from getting to know more people (unless they shoot a red bow, be wary of them XD).

After graduation, Zoe will be pursuing a career in the biotech industry with a focus on lab work. We are grateful for the time she has spent with us and the inclusive environment she helped build. We wish her the very best as she starts her professional journey.

Owen Huang-Debow

Owen Huang-Debow

Clinical Psychology

Roosevelt College

Senior Nickname: Tuning Till The End

USA Archery Level 2 Instructor
2022-2023 Treasurer
2023-2024 President
2021-2024 SGA Competitive Team Member

Owen first started archery during the first week of his freshman year at UCSD, however his interest in Sun God Archery actually began years earlier when he first toured UCSD at the age of fourteen and noticed the club. Seeing a flier during his first week on campus brought that memory back and with his curiosity reignited he decided to check it out. What began as simple curiosity quickly turned into a meaningful part of his college experience, and archery became something he consistently looked forward to throughout his time at UCSD.

One of Owen’s fondest archery memories was attending SIACC for the first time. It was through this experience where he truly saw how tight-knit the archery community is. Archers from all over the state came together, and people mingled easily across schools, creating an incredibly welcoming atmosphere. His favorite moment of the entire event was during the chants for the smaller competitions, it felt like SGA completely took over the room, and that sense of unity and school spirit was what truly hooked him.

After graduating, Owen plans to continue his education by attending either medical school or PA school. His time in archery has taught him the importance of community, involvement, and putting himself out there, lessons that will stay with him long after college. We wish Owen the best in his future academic and professional pursuits and hope his time with SGA continues to inspire him wherever he goes.

Alexis Spence

Alexis Spence

Cognitive Behavioral Neuroscience

Warren College

Senior Nickname: Work Hard Trip Harder

2024-2025 SGA Competitive Team Member

Accolades
2024 Spooky Shoot, Second Place

Lexie first got into archery when she was 11 at a summer camp, sparking her interest in the sport. That experience led her to sign up for lessons where she soon ended up falling in love with archery. After a year, she ended up enrolling in JOAD. Later on after she came to UCSD, she found out about SGA through tabling on library walk and decided to join.

Lexie’s favorite part of SGA is the community. She loved getting to know everyone and hearing everyone’s stories. Some of her most memorable memories during her time with us were the competitions, namely SIACC and going to Vegas for the first time.

When asked about her defining moment in archery, she recalls SIACC where she had a 1 arrow shootoff. She notes that although she didn’t win, she still had fun competing and supporting everyone no matter what happened.

Her fondest archery memory was during the club’s 2025 Vegas Shoot trip, when we had our formal night. After a long day shooting, the SGA team dressed up and had a night out on the strip. She recalls this as a special time and place where everyone bonded as a team.

After Lexie graduates, she will be going to go to the University of Colorado Boulder where she will do a post-bacc, after which she will apply to med school.

Thank you Lexie for being a part of SGA, we wish you the best moving forward!!

Akhil Subbarao

Akhil Subbarao

Cognitive Science: Machine Learning, Minors in Computer Science and General Biology

Revelle College

Senior Nickname: Who Let the Dogs Out

USA Archery Level 2 Instructor
2023-2024 Treasurer
2023-2024 SGA Competitive Team Member

Akhil first started archery at UCSD. He was walking down library walk when then-Social Chair John Leiman, who he was already acquainted with, asked him to come to the final workshop. He went, had a good time, and decided to stick around for the welcoming, fun community. Additionally, he found archery to be a relaxing hobby for decompressing from the stress of college life. Akhil first started on barebow, but after a few months picked up fixed pin and committed to the bow style, and even competed on teams for the club at the 2024 SIACC.

Akhil always brought a fun, high energy to archery, and it was always eventful when he was around. One such instance is when Akhil attended the club ice skating fundraiser and he stole someone’s girl. Another member had brought a date to the fundraiser, and she asked Akhil to teach her how to do spins on the ice like he was doing. He learned later that she was using him as an excuse to ditch her date. Akhil wasn’t all play though, he committed himself to learning and growing in archery. One piece of advice he has for new archers is to attend team practices and regularly ask for feedback.

After graduation, Akhil is applying for jobs to work during his gap year while applying for grad schools. He plans to go for a Masters in Computer Science and a PhD in Neural Modulation or Computational Neuroscience. We wish him luck in his future scholastic endeavors!

Randy Duong

Randy Duong

Chemical Engineering

Seventh College

Senior Nickname: *Randy*

USA Archery Level 2
2021-2022 Facilities Manager
2022-2023 Facilities Manager
2023-2024 Director of IT
2021-2024 UCSD Archery Competitive Team Member

Accolades:
2024 SGA Apollonian Award
2022 SIACC Barebow Mixed Team Bronze
2023 SIACC Men’s Barebow Team Silver
2023 CORR Men’s Barebow - 3rd Place
2023 All-West Men’s Barebow
2024 SIACC Men’s Barebow Team Bronze

Randy has been a major club member during his time here at SGA and has helped make our club a great place for new and returning members to the sport of archery. Having been introduced to the sport in PE before his time at UCSD, he explored his interest in the sport at school and with his friend’s bow at their house. Later on, as he was researching colleges, he stumbled upon SGA and, after getting accepted to UCSD, decided to join the club and the community.

During his time with SGA, Randy was a dedicated team member and traveled to numerous competitions with the team. It was through these competitions that he shared many experiences with everyone, with his weirdest one going to Denny’s at Westies 2023 in Sacramento. It was here that a series of unreal events followed. Having finished a day of shooting, the team decided to go to Denny’s to grab food, but after arriving, the sole waiter was on break, and the entire group of 11 people were forced to wait outside the restaurant for the employee to finish their break. However, things would get even weirder as a previous member, Matthew Oh, almost got locked in the Denny’s bathroom, forcing him to pry open the lock with their fingernails to get out. Things would continue to get stranger as soon as a random man got themselves locked in the same bathroom and started yelling to be let out, giving everybody a scare. All that is to say, Randy will definitely not be going back to use the coupon cards they got that night.

Having shot and competed for so long, Randy’s advice to new archers is to “Don’t think about it too much” and “don’t get frustrated.”

After college, Randy aims to return to the Bay Area and find a job.

For having sacrificed countless hours to help out and being a major member of the club, we would like to express our profound gratitude to Randy and wish for his continued success as he moves onto a new stage in his career.

Samantha Lowry

Samantha Lowry

Human Biology

Muir College

Senior Nickname: Sayum!

USA Archery Level 2
Sun God Archery Tier 1
2022-2023 Vice President
2023-2024 Vice President
2021-2024 UCSD Archery Competitive Team Member

Accolades
2022 SIACC Women’s Fixed Pin Qualifier Gold
2022 Western Regional Women’s Compound Qualifier Bronze
2022 Western Regional Compound Mixed Team Bronze
2022 Mile Square Cup Women’s Compound Gold
2022 South Bay Archery Club’s Blue Pacific 3D Shoot Women’s Compound-1st Place 
2023 SIACC Women’s Fixed Pin Qualifier Gold
2023 SIACC Women’s Compound Qualifier Gold
2023 SIACC Women’s Compound Team Gold
2023 SIACC Compound Mixed Team Gold
2023 Western Regional Women’s Compound Qualifier Bronze
2023 Western Regional Compound Mixed Team Bronze
2024 SIACC Women’s Fixed Pin Qualifier Silver
2024 SIACC Women’s Fixed Pin Round Robin Gold, 
2024 SIACC Women’s Fixed Pin Team Silver
2024 SIACC Compound Mixed Team Bronze
2024 Surfside 600 Women’s Compound Silver
2024 CORR Women’s Compound-3rd Place
2024 Western Regional Women’s Compound Qualifier Gold
2024 Western Regional Women’s Compound Eliminations Silver
2024 Western Regional Compound Mixed Team Gold

Sam first started archery through a church camp while she was in 5th grade, and she continued to do it every summer. She then received a bow from her parents for Christmas in her freshman year of high school, and continued to shoot with her dad throughout high school. Before attending UCSD, she researched and found the archery field. That was when her dad convinced her to continue shooting in college, and during her freshman quarter at UCSD, she was handed a flier and began coming regularly to the field. Before attending UCSD, she had not competed, however, since joining, she has dominated competitions and become a wonderful archer to shoot with.

Sam is a multi-talented, hardworking individual who excels both on and off the field. Being a pre-med student, she balanced her classes, research position, EMT shift, and regularly attended practices and competitions. She also was the vice president of the club for her last two years at UCSD. When faced with a struggle or a problem, she was able to figure out ways that helped her grow immensely. For example, Sam faced a struggle of getting nervous at tournaments. To overcome this feeling, she scored herself at practice and set realistic goals at tournaments based on her average score, and she utilized meditation, breathing techniques, and visualization to help calm herself. She pushed herself to work hard, be persistent, believe in herself, and most of all have fun. Her weirdest memory of the club was when she won a match against fellow member and “fruit salad” teammate Alex Bachrach and received a rotisserie chicken from him as the prize (which they then ate on the field lol).

Her advice for new shooters is to “have fun and talk to people.” She has greatly followed her advice and will be dearly missed. After college, Sam hopes to find a job as an ER tech in her hometown of Los Angeles to gain more medical experience. She will be taking the MCAT in January 2025, and will be applying to med school in June 2025. Sam also hopes to participate in more tournaments, especially 3D tournaments. We wish her the best in her academic, professional, and competitive pursuits, and may her positivity and compassion continue to shine wherever she goes.

“Fruit Salad, Yummy Yummy!”

Aidan Sund

Aidan Sund

Biochemistry

Revelle College

Senior Nickname: Mr. Pwesident

USA Archery Level 2
Sun God Archery Tier 1
2021-2022 Team Captain
2022-2023 President
2021-2024 UCSD Archery Competitive Team Member

With his crazy playlist, you might want to think twice before you let Aidan get aux. Perhaps his questionable tastes in music might come from his extensive career in archery. Aidan was first introduced to archery and given an opportunity to try it out after going to a Boy Scout expo in 2013. After getting hooked on the sport, he found a range near his hometown and stuck with it ever since. A few years later, Aidan would go on to hear about SGA as he competed at the Cal State Games in 2017. Having joined UCSD during covid and being bored, he reached out to the club to see if they had practice and joined the club from there.

Throughout his time with the club, Aidan has made many lasting memories, making many great friends that he would keep in touch with even after college. His fondest memories of the club have been going to team lunches and dinners after practice and having fun with everyone. From a bowl of ramen to a juicy burger, Aidan is always willing to go out and do something together (even if he might have work he should be doing).

After college, Aidan aims to apply to medical school and potentially do biochemistry or synthetic chemistry research where he can.

We would like to thank Aidan for being an entertaining member of our community and wish him the best in all his future endeavors!

Anessa Williamson

Anessa Williamson

Speculative Design

Revelle College

Senior Nickname: most intimidating nice person

USA Archery Level 2 Instructor
2023-2024 Team Captain
2021-2024 UCSD Archery Competitive Team Member

Accolades
JOAD Nationals Cadet Division Qualifier Bronze 
JOAD Nationals Cadet Division Elimination Silver
JOAD Nationals Cadet Division Team Gold
Vegas Shoot Cadet Division Bronze

Anessa has been a major part of the archery club during her three years at UCSD, but she discovered the sport long before coming to college. At just nine years old she tagged along with her dad, who is into hunting sports, to the archery range and stuck with the sport ever since.

When Anessa was traveling to Outdoor Senior Nationals the airline lost her equipment. At the tournament the entire Masters division banded together to give her something she could shoot, and she ended up with equipment from 7 different people. She could vividly remember older women huddling around her pinning on a too-large chest guard and having her test different arrows. While she didn’t shoot well, it’s one of her fondest memories since it was a beautiful and supportive movement from the archery community. As for her weirdest memory, Anessa said she was responsible for an electrical fire that caused a half hour delay at a tournament, and that was all we needed to know.

Her advice to new archers is that it’s not about being the strongest, but that it’s about patience, time and dedication - and you will reach your goals. She also mentioned packing snacks for tournaments. ALWAYS.

Anessa is planning on continuing her art career in graduate school at UCLA! We are super proud of her and thankful for the time she has dedicated towards our club. SGA wishes the absolute best of luck to her in the future!

Ian Cresencia

Ian Cresencia

Psychology

Muir College

Senior Nickname: Cresencion

USA Archery Level 2 Instructor
2023-2024 Social Chair
2021-2024 UCSD Archery Competitive Team Member

Accolades
2024 SIACC Men’s Barebow Flight Winner

Ian has been an irreplaceable member of Sun God Archery and a beloved part of our club’s family over his years here. He dedicated countless time and effort to support and improve SGA, spearheading and planning events as social chair and helping to build a supportive and engaging club community. Ian was interested in archery from an early age, but it was at an SGA workshop in his first year that he finally was able to try it. Since then, he has devoted 4 years to practicing and improving his shooting.

Ian’s fondest memories of archery revolve around community and comradery, values which he has reflected in his contributions to SGA. During SIACC 2024, he found himself facing a full flight of USC archers. Coincidentally, the men’s barebow team had lost the opportunity to get a higher medal following defeat to USC’s team during team rounds, so he made it his personal mission to crush them in his flight. He had gone through the first three, and on his final opponent he was incredibly nervous. As he continued to beat the USC archers, more and more USC teammates showed up to support their archers. He was honestly scared: no one from UCSD had arrived to rally for him and he felt incredibly alone. He then asked my good friend Isaac to rally others because he was facing such intense pressure and fear facing his match against his final opponent. During the two final rounds, he looked back and saw SGA’s members behind him, rooting for him. He was able to defeat his final opponent, going 4-0 in SIACC. The entire moment solidified that although archery is mostly an individual sport, having team members (and more importantly, friends) at your back is what makes being a club so great. In the tight-knit archery community, these sentiments reflect even in opponents. During one of the SIACC qualifiers in 2022/23, Ian had begun to shoot poorly, and it was beginning to affect him throughout the scoring end. A UCI archer by the name of Patrick helped him calm himself down and manage his shots better for the rest of the qual. The experience made him grateful to have had such nice people in the archery community, even as a direct competitor in the male barebow division.

The values of community in archery motivated Ian, and in turn he motivated and supported us in every way he could, for which we will always be grateful and remember him for. As he moves on to CSU Fullerton for his Masters in Counseling next year, Ian hopes to join their archery team and continue his journey in the sport. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors, and hope to see him competing again!

Jaewon Kim

Jaewon Kim

Biochemistry

Revelle College

Senior Nickname: Jaewonder

2023-2024 UCSD Archery Competitive Team Member

Accolades
2024 SIACC Compound Mixed Team Bronze
2024 West Regional Male Compound Team Bronze

Jaewon started his archery journey this past fall in 2023. He took a break from lacrosse during COVID and was looking for a new sports team at UCSD, when as luck would have it, he came across one of SGA’s workshops. He said that it felt like destiny when he saw it, like he just knew “This is it.” He always thought archery was a fascinating sport, but Korea wasn’t as beginner-friendly, needing to start as a child or not at all. He appreciates how open SGA is to new archers and that it welcomes students of all skill levels.

His most defining memory of his time shooting was his final arrow in SIACC. The room was loud, full of music and people talking and cheering. However, when he started drawing back that arrow, it was like the world went quiet, and all that was there was just him and the target. He’s experienced that absolute concentration very few times, even throughout his whole life playing music and sports, and considers it to be a valuable memory that he looks back fondly on.

Throughout his life, Jaweon has played numerous sports. However, his experience was that each one was very competitive. They took each mistake seriously and it was mentally challenging to deal with it all. In contrast, he found that the SGA team was different. They were supportive of each others’ shots regardless of performance and gave confidence even after making a mistake. He’ll never forget that during SIACC mixed teams, he hit a 7, and one of his teammates screamed out “10!!” This led to lighthearted laughter from the team and Jaewon himself. Right after that, he shot a 10 and he says he’ll never forget how heartwarming that experience was.

His biggest struggle in archery has been getting the timing right on releasing his shots. He used to reflexively release as soon as his sight went over the center, even when his shot process and form hadn’t been completed yet. Through much practice, he has been able to fix this and now is in better control of his timing. He says that being patient and knowing when to find good timing is an applicable skill outside of archery, and has shown its way in his personal life in many ways (gaming to name one).

To new or prospective members of the club, he has a couple of pieces of wisdom to share. He recalls that working on improving his form rather than focusing exclusively on aiming, has helped him shoot far better. Especially through competitions, he was able to identify different parts of his shot process that he could work on. He recommends that club members should try to go if they can, as they’re not only fun but give archers a chance to improve through them as well. Lastly, he emphasizes that having the “best” equipment and spending a lot of money on the sport doesn’t mean you’ll shoot better. His entire setup was less than $400 and he’s shot better than people who have spent far more on theirs. He explains that skill is the most important thing for an archer, and new archers shouldn’t feel the pressure to buy expensive equipment.

Jaewon does not have a set destination in mind after graduation and plans on spending two years doing research, after which he will go to med school. We’re wishing Jaewon the best of luck with his studies and future career and we’re very proud to have him as an SGA Alumni!

Brooklyn Louie

Brooklyn Louie

Electrical Engineering

Revelle College

Senior Nickname: Wine Mommy

USA Archery Level 2
2021-2024 UCSD Archery Competitive Team Member

Brooklyn Louie decided to join archery her second year after she saw an SGA Workshop flier hanging around campus and decided to try out a workshop. She found it enjoyable and kept showing up, and show up she did. Brooklyn was a regular on our field, elevating our community with her wonderful sense of humor and acceptance of all fellow members. We all loved checking in on Brooklyn’s unique and innovative journey through the creation of many “scuffed” clickers for her bow. Additionally, Brooklyn was attentive on our field, making sure a safe environment was kept. She was always looking out for our community, so although she never ran, many thought of Brooklyn as an honorary Officer. We are grateful to have had her presence on the field.

Although she was an integral member to our social culture, Brooklyn’s biggest struggle was once confidence and social interaction. However, through joining archery and having a friend group to hang out with both on and off the field, Brooklyn improved her social skills and boosted her confidence. In fact, her favorite archery tournament was SIACC because she was able to meet and hang out with her fellow archers.

After college, Brooklyn will move to Seattle where she will work at FlukeCorp.

Brooklyn passed down her persistent, inventive, and humorous spirit to all SGA members, and we are so lucky to have such an amazing role model to call a friend to the field. We wish Brooklyn good luck with her future endeavors!

Jalen Li

Jalen Li

Applied Math

Sixth College

Senior Nickname: The Wicked Witch of the SD MTS

2021-2024 UCSD Archery Competitive Member

Accolades
2023 SIACC Men's Barebow Qualifier Bronze 
2023 SIACC Men's Barebow Team Round Silver 
2023 SIACC Mixed Team Round Gold (*AKA The Funny Match) 
2024 SIACC Men's Barebow Team Round Bronze

Jalen has been an active club member throughout his time at SGA, and has been a strong anchor to our barebow team and division. Starting archery in his second year of practice, Jalen recalls walking with his friends and noticing a random flyer for free and beginner workshops. Despite the rainy conditions, Jalen decided to give it a try and was able to shoot a grand total of 6 arrows over the course of 2 arrows and figured – if he didn’t join the club he’d never get himself out of his room otherwise. 

During his time in the club, Jalen’s favorite aspect of being a part of Sun God Archery has been the people he’s met. From being able to meet new people outside in the field to doing activities and social events with the club both on and off the field, the community has remained a strong reason for why Jalen has shot with the club for so long.

His one advice to anyone interested in trying out archery: “Go for it.”

After graduating, Jalen plans to head into industry and work. We wish him the best of luck and congratulations on graduating!!

Carlos Campos

Carlos Campos

Economics

Seventh College

Senior Nickname: The 1st Commander of Supreme Birb Overlord

2021-2024 UCSD Archery Competitive Team Member

When Carlos started at UCSD during his freshman year in 2020, he had been thrown into a new world during the middle of a pandemic. However, thanks to an invite from one of our previous officers, Irene, he has been a part of Sun God Archery throughout his entire undergraduate career. In his eyes, it was an amazing chance to get to know a new community, and we have been very lucky to have him.

During his time in the club, he has made a lot of great memories. One of his favorites occurred in 2021, when during his sophomore year, he decided to shoot 3d targets in a club hangout with CSU Long Beach. He had a blast getting to not only experience a sport he was excited about, but also engage with a new group of people who shared the same interests. To him, “going to different clubs and seeing how different people experience the same sport was super exciting” and became an experience he never would forget.  That same year, he decided to get his own setup. After accidentally paying the wrong Randy, he described holding his own bow for the first time as the “best feeling ever”. You can still see him shooting the same bow today. 

We thank Carlos for the time he has dedicated to the club, his help in the event committee throughout his years with us at UCSD, and for the radiant positivity he always brought to the field

As for what’s next, Carlos is waiting for the right opportunity to strike. For now, he plans to either go into the government sector, or earn an MBA to become an economic advisor.