Miranda (Leek) Huerta (born May 18, 1993) is an American

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

Career

Born in Des Moines,

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

, Leek learned to shoot from her father, Scott Leek, who is a recreational archer. When she was 5, Scott Leek took her with him to a shooting range and taught her how to use a basic

recurve bow In archery, a recurve bow is one of the main shapes a bow can take, with limbs that curve away from the archer when unstrung. A recurve bow stores more energy and delivers energy more efficiently than the equivalent straight-limbed bow, giving ...

. Over time, she began to participate in local competitions, switching to a

compound bow In modern archery, a compound bow is a bow that uses a levering system, usually of cables and pulleys, to bend the limbs. In general, compound bows are widely used in target practice and hunting. The pulley/cam system grants the user a mechan ...

, which she would use until switching back to an Olympic-style recurve bow at the age of 12. During this transition, Leek continued to be coached by her father, with additional support and advice from archery coach Terry Wunderle and his son, former Olympian

Vic Wunderle Victor Steven "Vic" Wunderle (born March 4, 1976 in Lincoln, Illinois) is an archer from the United States. Personal Wunderle was raised in Mason City, Illinois and is the son of the famous archery coach Terry Wunderle. His passion for archery ...

. By age 14 she was selected as a member of USA Archery's Junior Dream Team, and began to be coached by

Kisik Lee Kisik Lee (born 2 July 1957 in Seoul) is the National Head Coach of the US Olympic Archery Training Program, and is considered to be the first person to bring the scientific method to archery training for the US. Lee used to be the head coach of ...

, her current team coach. Her father remains her personal coach. In 2010, Leek was selected as the sole representative of the United States in women's archery at the

2010 Summer Youth Olympics The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics ( ta, 2010 கோடைக்கால இளையோர் ஒலிம்பிக் விளையாட்டுக்கள் ms, Sukan Olimpik Belia Musim Panas 2010), officially known as the I Summer ...

. The following year, she graduated from

Dowling Catholic High School Dowling Catholic High School is a Catholic secondary school in the central United States, in West Des Moines, Iowa, within the Diocese of Des Moines. As of the 2013-14 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,431 students and 94.6 classroom ...

in West Des Moines, and has been accepted to attend

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

starting in fall, 2012. Also in 2011, Leek participated as a member of the United States women's team at the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

in Guadalajara,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. There, she won silver medals in both the individual and team competitions. She qualified to compete in both the individual and

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to inf ...

competitions at the 2012 Summer Olympics in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, beating out two more experienced archers for the right to compete in the individual competition on behalf of the United States. She did not medal in either competition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leek, Miranda 1993 births American female archers Archers at the 2011 Pan American Games Archers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Archers at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics Living people Sportspeople from Iowa Sportspeople from Des Moines, Iowa Olympic archers of the United States Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in archery Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games 21st-century American women