Alumna’s aim is true as a pediatric nurse, world-champion archer – GCU News

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally appeared in the current issue of GCU Magazine, available in the purple bins across campus or in digital format.

When Alexis Ruiz makes her rounds as a pediatric nurse at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, she unpockets her bright smile, bringing a sense of serenity with her to reassure her young patients.

Phoenix Children’s was where she knew she wanted to be after she hurt her shoulder and spent time there as a patient.

To work here? It was the dream job, though the 2023 Grand Canyon University nursing graduate knew she wanted to work in health care even before then.

“My mom would tell me, when I was really little and someone got hurt, I was always the first one to go help,” Ruiz said.

It’s what led her to the rigorous nursing program at GCU.

But it wasn’t the Phoenix native’s only dream.

Ruiz also is a world champion archer, representing Team USA on the international stage for seven years and is ranked No. 5 in the world among women competing in compound bow.

What started out as just family fun hunting in the woods turned into an unexpected athletic career that has taken her around the globe.

“I was placed in a local tournament just for practice when I was 10. I figured out that I loved the competing part, and it just grew on me,” Ruiz said.

Ruiz attended her first shooting practice in 2010, and by 2017, she won her first world tournament, the Argentina Junior World Championship.

That was only the beginning.

The following year, she became the youngest person ever to win the 2018 Vegas Shoot, where 4,000 athletes compete.

“It is the biggest tournament there is. We call it our Super Bowl,” Ruiz said. “It was my first time shooting it as a professional archer. I had so much adrenaline, I can’t even remember shooting the arrows in the finals that I won. I am glad it’s all on video because I only remember the feeling after.”

Ruiz often trains six or seven days a week, spending several hours a day standing still in one spot and shooting at a target 55 yards away – about half a football field – to sharpen her form and mental game.

“A lot of it is mental,” Ruiz said. “It’s about figuring out what hasn’t been working or what is working, but you want to fine-tune it. After so long, there is no big changes to your equipment, but more so, those fine movements, because you are trying to be as perfect as possible to hit the middle.”

After winning the 2019 Archery World Cup, Ruiz was ranked No. 1 in the world in women’s compound archery, a discipline that isn’t included in the Olympics (only archers using recurve bows can compete).

“The feeling of being onstage, there is nothing like it,” Ruiz said. “It’s like a roller coaster. You get really amped up or scared to go on it. You are doing it, and your heart rate is super high, then you are done and step off the final stage and are like, ‘Wow let’s go again!’”

As part of her routine before a competition, Ruiz stretches, but most importantly to her, she sets aside time to pray.

“I lean on God a lot, especially going through tournaments, because I don’t always have a great tournament,” Ruiz said. “I talk to Him all the time. While I am struggling, in the middle of it I will just stop and talk to Him, and it refocuses my mind and lets me be OK with whatever is happening.”

She leaned on Him, too, when she came to a crossroads.

She received her acceptance letter into the nursing program at the same time she was invited to participate in another Archery World Cup in Russia.

“I couldn’t do both, and it was the hardest decision, but I put nursing school off for two years and got two minors instead.

“It’s always going to be a hard choice, but no matter what, you have to make a decision. You don’t have to put anything off completely. If you just do your time management right, which takes a lot of scheduling and putting out anything that is not a priority in your life.”

When COVID-19 hit and most international tournaments were canceled, Ruiz decided to grasp that opportunity to dive back into the nursing program while continuing to hone her archery skills.

As doors opened to compete in national tournaments that aligned with her nursing schedule, she took advantage of them.

“I was taking red-eye flights and shooting for three hours after I got off the plane,” Ruiz said.

After graduating from nursing school, Ruiz quickly earned her spot back on the Team USA World Cup team. She won the gold medal in the compound mixed team rounds with teammate Sawyer Sullivan in Berlin in 2023, and this spring, took home three gold medals from the Pan Am Championships in Medellin, Colombia, in compound women’s, team and mixed team.

And she continues to balance her life as a nurse and world-class athlete.

“It was expected for my rankings to drop because I wasn’t shooting any world stuff anymore,” Ruiz said. “But it gave me something to keep striving for. It was a different feeling knowing I was ranked No. 1 in the world, and I want to strive to be in that position again.

“Initially, this sport came second for me, and nursing came first, but now they are equal. I cannot imagine not doing one or the other.”

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