Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Branch Indoor Wrapup

Namoi Valley Archers sent a strong team of 17 archers to contest the Northern NSW Branch Indoor Archery Titles held in Tamworth over the weekend returning with an outstanding haul of 10 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals. The 2 day tournament required competitors to shoot a total of 120 arrows at a distance of 20 yards with each day broken into 3 games of 20 arrows with 5 arrows shot at each end. The tournament attracted a quality field of 73 archers from Newcastle, the Central Coast, Taree, Gloucester, Inverell, Tamworth and Gunnedah. The field featured multiple World and Australian champions with a very high standard of archery on display over the weekend with one competitor shooting 599 out of a possible 600. With fourteen shooting lanes in use for the tournament this meant there was a large gallery watching the action and for many archers this provided a new and sometimes nerve wracking experience shooting under close scrutiny from their fellow competitors as they battled for every point. The quality of the competition was underlined in the Mens Freestyle Unlimited division with the top 3 competitors separated by just 4 points with Newcastle’s Scott Buscombe scoring a narrow win from Scott Dollin of Taree and Adam Tillbrook of Newcastle.
A team event was held as part of the competition with each club entering their top four sighted shooters and their best barebow shooter. Namoi Valley Archers team of Stuart Dolbel, David Buckingham, Matthew Wittman, John Clark and Ann Stubbs finished second behind the powerful team representing the Avon Valley Club from Gloucester.
Namoi Valley Archers showed their dominance in the Bowhunter Unlimited division with Stuart Dolbel showed plenty of tenacity to record a win in A grade with David Buckingham also finishing on top in B grade with a great performance. Peter Stubbs shot consistently to fend off the challenge from Tamworth’s Andrew Springer in Recurve to record a great win while Greg Donovan streeted the field to record the win in Bowhunter Limited. Ann Stubbs continues to improve at a rapid rate posting personal best scores on the weekend to win Womens Compound. Stubbs bettered her score posted at the club practice event only one week ago by a substantial margin outshooting her more fancied opponents. Freestyle Recurve exponent, Ken Thompson, was in superb form scoring a comprehensive win over Reade Moffat who just returned from representing Australia at the World IFAA Championships held in Nambia. Ben Stubbs added to the medal haul with a silver in Mens Bowhunter B grade while Jodi Dolbel battled back from equipment problems late in the last end on Saturday to grab third place in Womens Freestyle Unlimited.
The club’s juniors were in great form with Matthew Wittman finishing the tournament as the highest scoring junior archer after a brilliant performance in Freestyle Unlimited. Amy Stubbs grabbed the gold in Girls Junior Bowhunter division with Shane Thompson battling hard on his way to winning Freestyle Recurve. Sebastian Donovan struggled with equipment problems throughout the weekend but the tenacious Donovan still had enough class to score the win in Bowhunter Limited while Jarrod Stubbs finished third in a hot Boys Bowhunter field.
The focus returns to club activities this weekend with a 3 arrow round set down for the Boundary range on Sunday.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Indoor Outdoor Day

Namoi Valley Archers introduced a first for the club on Sunday staging a 20yd round at the range. Competitors were required to shoot 60 arrows from 20 yards for seniors and juniors with cubs shooting at 10 yards. The round was broken into 3 games of 20 arrows with 5 arrows shot at each end. This is the format which will be used for the Northern NSW Branch Indoor Championships which is to be held on July 12th and 13th at Tamworth and club officials scheduled the round to help club members prepare for the upcoming Indoor tournament. The new concept proved an outstanding success with 22 competitors filling the modified practice range to capacity and judging by the comments of competitors at the end of the event this round looks set to become an annual fixture on the club shoot calendar.
Stuart Dolbel recorded the highest score of the day scoring a convincing win in the sighted division. Dolbel was one point behind Greg Donovan after the first game but really hit his straps over the last two games to score a decisive win. Donovan could not match the pace set by Dolbel over the concluding stages but did just enough to edge out John Clark in the battle for the minor placings. Wade Hudson went head to head with accomplished Newcastle archer, Robin Huckett, who was visiting the club for the day in the barebow division and the two were neck and neck midway through the event but Huckett buckled under the relentless pressure applied by Hudson with his challenge fading away over the last game leaving Hudson a clear winner. Karen Hudson showed plenty of ability in this format to grab third place with an impressive performance. Competitors attending the Northern NSW Branch Indoor Championships in Tamworth this weekend are advised they must be at the venue by 8.30 am to nominate. The Tamworth club has organised a dinner and social evening on Saturday night at a popular local venue and any club member wishing to attend the dinner should contact 67423220 for further details.
Scores
Sighted – Stuart Dolbel 291, Greg Donovan 284, John Clark 283, Gordon White 263, Ken Thompson 262.
Barebow – Wade Hudson 276, Robin Huckett 247, Karen Hudson 212, Darrell Hudson 204, Peter Stubbs 203, Ann Stubbs 177, Ben Stubbs 172, Taylor Snape 63.
Junior Sighted – Sebastian Donovan 243, Shane Thompson 239.
Junior Barebow – Jarrod Stubbs 215, Amy Stubbs 150, Sam Zelinski 98, Hayden Riordan 97, Sam Snape 94, Brody Waterford 66, Kym Mieger 34.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

3 Arrow Round In Perfect Conditions

Namoi Valley Archers held a 3 arrow animal round on Sunday with competitors taking to the Outback range in the perfect winter weather conditions. Darrell Hudson was in top form scoring a good win in a typically spirited Traditional contest with Peter Stubbs shooting well to finish second over Michael Patrick in third. John Clark turned in a solid round to grab top spot in the Open contest from Stuart Dolbel who bounced back to form to edge out Steve Jaeger in a tense battle for the minor placings. Wade Hudson scored a comfortable win in the Compound division over Phillip Porter with Karen Hudson shooting particularly well to grab third from the rapidly improving Ann Stubbs who returned a personal best score. Jarrod Stubbs returned a very solid round to edge out Amy Stubbs in Junior Compound with Hayden Riordan in third. Matthew Jauja
Turned in another consistent round to finish on top in Junior Open with Sebastian Donovan finishing second and Ethan Thompson third. In a first for the club this Sunday will see a 20yd round staged at the range. Competitors will be required to shoot 60 arrows from 20 yards for seniors and juniors with cubs shooting at 10 yards. The round will be broken into 3 games of 20 arrows with 5 arrows shot each end. This is the format for the Northern NSW Branch Indoor Championships which is to be held on July 12th and 13th at Tamworth and club officials have scheduled this round to help club members prepare for the upcoming Indoor tournament.

Scores
Traditional – Darrell Hudson 685, Peter Stubbs 550, Michael Patrick 380, Lloyd Jauja 270.
Open – John Clark 1145, Stuart Dolbel 1115, Steve Jaeger 1090, Matt Sinclair 1065, Matthew Wittman 1000, Mark Stevenson 980, Rob Steele 865, Gordon White 835, Denise Stevenson 685.
Bowhunter – Greg Donovan 1020.
Compound – Wade Hudson 1010, Phillip Porter 805, Karen Hudson 605, Ann Stubbs 555, Ben Stubbs 495, Taylor Snape 300, Shelley Porter 240.
Junior Open – Matthew Jauja 1010, Sebastian Donovan 895, Ethan Thompson 520.
Junior Compound – Jarrod Stubbs 575, Amy Stubbs 540, Hayden Riordan 485.
Junior Traditional – Sam Snape 300.
Cub Compound – Jackelyn Patrick 180.
Cub Traditional – Curtis Riordan 215.
Novice – Samantha Stevenson 130.