Thompsons Finish Well At State FITA

Namoi Valley Archers held a club event on Sunday with Range Captain, Matt Wittman, adding a new twist to the day by combining the circular IFAA faces with the 2 round ABA format. Competitors gave the day the thumbs up with some excellent scores recorded. Tamworth veteran, Neville White, turned in a masterful display to finish on top in the Compound division with a fast finishing Ann Stubbs also shooting well to take second place with Karen Hudson in third. John Clark shot very consistently to finish on top in the open division with Greg Donovan doing just enough to take second place by 2 points from Gordon White and Matt Jauja who tied for third. Jackelyn Patrick shot a personal best score on her way to the win in Cub Compound with Haylie Murrell in second and Kaytlyn Murrell in third.

Gunnedah archers, Ken and Shane Thompson competed in the NSW FITA Field Championships held at Armidale over the weekend with Shane shooting extremely well to finish in second place in the Cadet Recurve division with the winner setting a new Australian record. Ken Thomspon finished a creditable 4^th in the Adult Recurve event which featured a top class field including Australian Olympic representatives.

Scores

Compound – Neville White 682, Ann Stubbs 622, Karen Hudson 610, Nathan Murrell 546, Wendi Murrell 468.

Open – John Clark 784, Greg Donovan 756, Matt Jauja 754, Gordon White 754, Mark Stevenson 702, Peter Bush 694, Denise Stevenson 606, Lloyd Jauja 384, Matt Wittman 370.

Traditional – Darrell Hudson 668, Michael Patrick 592.

Junior Compound – Christopher Patrick 586.

Junior Open – Sebastian Donovan 724.

Junior Traditional – James Bush 340.

Cub Compound – Jackelyn Patrick 558, Haylie Murrell 406, Kaytlyn Murrell 126.

Cub Traditional – Sammy Patrick 260, Emily Murrell 198.

Branch 3D Title Success

Namoi Valley Archers sent 4 teams to the Northern NSW Branch Team 3D Challenge held in Gloucester over the weekend with 2 teams winning their respective divisions. This event is a new concept on the Branch calendar with each 3 member team shooting 2 qualifying rounds on Saturday with the top ranked teams progressing to Sunday’s shootout final. The format for the finals required each team member to shoot just one arrow at a 3D target set up in front of the assembled competitors and the high pressure format bought many teams undone. The team of Ann Stubbs, Karen Hudson and Amy Stubbs finished the qualifying rounds with the top ranking in the Women’s Compound event and progressed to Sunday’s final as a hot favourite but struck trouble in the final when Karen Hudson missed with her arrow but Ann and Amy Stubbs both scored allowing the team to post a score. The Gunnedah team then has a nervous wait as the other teams shot but their score could not be matched giving them the win. Namoi Valley Archers decided to field a composite team in the Mens Compound event with Recurve archers Darrell Hudson and Peter Stubbs joining compound star, Wade Hudson, for the event. The team struggled to match the top flight compound teams during the qualifying rounds doing just enough to make the final and just like the Gunnedah’s team were in a precarious position when Darrell Hudson’s arrow just skimmed the back of the target. Peter Stubbs scored with his arrow and Wade Hudson drove his arrow right into the bullseye giving the team a score. Amazingly, team after team cracked under the intense pressure and the Gunnedah boys celebrated in style when the last team failed to beat their score giving them an unlikely win and bragging rights over their opposition. The focus returns to club activities this weekend with a shoot set down for November 1^st.