Friday, August 14
Podium Finishes:
Goalball (silver)
After defeating Canada in today’s earlier semifinal match 7-6, the U.S. women lost in a thrilling final match-up to Brazil 7-6 and took home the silver. Trailing by just one point at the half, Team USA was not able to make up the difference in the final 10 minutes.
The men’s goalball team faces off against Brazil in the gold medal match tomorrow, August 15 at 11:30 a.m. EST.
Judo (1 silver, 2 bronze)
Myles Porter went 2-1 in pool play, with wins over teammate Benjamin Goodrich and Arthur Cavalcante of Brazil to secure the men’s -100 kilogram silver medal. Dartanyon Crockett fell to Cuba’s Jorge Hierrezuelo in his opening pool play match for the men’s -90 kg, and then beat Tony Walby of Canada by Ippon in five minutes to take the bronze medal. Robert Anderson went 1-2 in pool play, and defeated Venezuela’s William Montero by 4 Shido in 3:14 for bronze.
Sitting Volleyball (1 gold, 1 silver)
The U.S. Parapan Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team, ranked third in the world, added one more bit of history to its record collection by defeating Brazil 25-20, 25-22, 25-15 Friday evening in Toronto to claim the first-ever women’s sitting volleyball title at the Parapan American Games. Team USA, which has already qualified to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games after finishing second at last year’s world championship, went undefeated in five Parapan American Games matches without dropping a single set. During pool play the Americans defeated the Brazilians 25-20, 25-20, 25-11. MORE.
On the men’s side, after securing at least a top-two finish and earning a berth to Rio 2016, the U.S. was outplayed by the Brazilians in 25-19, 25-17, 25-14 in the final match to settle for silver. Team USA went 4-1 in preliminary match play, with the only loss coming from Brazil. MORE.
Swimming (3 bronze)
Zachary Shattuck clinched his first individual medal with bronze in the men’s 100m backstroke S6. Reilly Boyt ended a successful Parapan Am run with a fourth medal, bronze in the women’s 100m backstroke S6. Leslie Cichocki also added another bronze to her collection in the women’s 200m IM SM14. U.S. swimmers tallied a total of 32 medals in the pool this week, led by Mallory Weggemann and Haley Beranbaum with five medals apiece. MORE.
Track and Field (3 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze)
Team USA closed out track and field competition on Friday evening, winning nine more medals. Collectively, the team won 53 medals, and set two world records; Jarryd Wallace and Roderick Townsend. Tonight’s competition was highlighted by a Team USA podium sweep in the men’s 1500 meter T52, led by Ray Martin with his third gold medal of Toronto 2015, followed by teammates Steven Toyoji and Isaiah Rigo. In the women’s 400m T53, Chelsea McClammer and Shirley Reilly completed their second 1-2 finish in two days. Angela Madsen threw a Parapan Am record for gold in the women’s javelin throw F55/56. David Prince set a Parapan Am record for a silver medal in the men’s 200m T44. Tyson Gunter scored a personal best to earn silver in the men’s long jump T13. Jeff Skiba had a season best in the men’s javelin throw F44 to grab bronze. MORE.
Wheelchair Basketball (1 gold)
The gold medal match up between the women’s wheelchair basketball teams for the U.S. and Canada did not disappoint fans tonight. It was a close battle for all four quarters, but Team USA pulled out the gold medal win, topping the host country, 80-72. Rose Hollerman scored a tournament-high 37 points, and U.S. teammate Becca Murray netted 16 points.
The men’s wheelchair basketball team will face Canada in the gold medal game on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. EST.
Wheelchair Rugby (1 silver)
In a very physical four periods of play, both Canada and the United States brought their A game to the court tonight. While their meeting earlier in the week went in favor of the Americans, tonight would end with the Canadians as the winners 57-54. The U.S. captured the silver and Colombia brought home the bronze.
Wheelchair Tennis (2 silver, 1 bronze)
Kaitlyn Verfuerth and Jon Rydberg both picked up silver medals for Team USA in singles competition. Verfuerth added to her earlier doubles medal with partner Emmy Kaiser, who ended Parapan Am play with win after defeating Mardones Francisca of Chile and taking home bronze.