State IFAA

Namoi Valley Archers sent a 10 member team to the NSW State IFAA Championships held in Gloucester over the weekend returning with 7 gold and 1 bronze medals after a superb performance by the team. The International Field Archery Association tournament is a highly technical test of archery ability with targets set at marked distances with competitors required to shoot four arrows at each target with the maximum distance of 80 yards. Wade Hudson scored an impressive win in Mens Bowhunter stamping his class on the field to win by 52 points. This event marks the start of Hudson’s campaign to win selection in the Australian team to compete at the 2012 World IFAA Championships to be held in Argentina later this year. Karen Hudson finished the weekend as the number one female Bowhunter archer with a powerful performance making it a unique mother and son double in this division. The family connections continued with Bernie Hayne scoring a wonderful victory in Freestyle Unlimited B grade. Hayne shot brilliantly to score the gold medal in a performance he will long remember. Son, Zac Hayne, showed the talent runs in the family scoring the gold medal in Junior Freestyle Unlimited with a wonderful display of precision archery to finish the weekend as the highest scoring junior archer. Phil Greenwood used all his experience to carve out a great win in Bowhunter Recurve. Greenwood was disappointed with his shooting at the club shoot leading up this event and set about rectifying this with a week of intensive practice which paid handsome dividends. Clubmate, Peter Stubbs, also shot well to grab the bronze medal in this event. David Buckingham finished the weekend as the top longbow archer to take gold while Mark Stevenson rounded out the medal haul with gold in Freestyle Limited Recurve. The club will be back in action this Sunday with a two round 3D event set down.

Namoi Valley Archers held an IFAA Field round on Sunday giving club members a final opportunity to prepare for this weekend’s NSW State IFAA Championships to be held in Gloucester. The IFAA event is a very technical test of archery ability with competitors required to shoot 4 arrows at each target with a maximum distance of 80yards. Greg Donovan scored his second consecutive victory in the Sighted division with a hard fought win over Stuart Dolbel with Gordon White just holding off a hard chasing pack for third. Tamworth veteran, Neville White, used all his experience to score the win in the Compound event with Karen Hudson finishing second and Ann Stubbs third. Darrell Hudson excelled on the day to score a good win in the Traditional contest with peter Stubbs just edging out John Woolaston in a spirited battle for the minor placings. The next club event will be a 2 round 3D event set down for May 20th. Scores - Greg Donovan 249, Stuart Dolbel 245, Gordon White 241, Nathan Murrell 240, John Clark 239, Peter Bush 235, Sebastian Donovan 229, James Bush 223, Bernie Hayne 220, Matt Krug 211, Mark Stevenson 172. Traditional - Darrell Hudson 154, Peter Stubbs 147, John Woolaston 144, Phillip Greenwood 130. Compound – Neville White 175, Karen Hudson 165, Ann Stubbs 112, Sharon Boyd 76. Junior Compound - Zac Critchley 165, Blake Memorey 135. Junior Sighted - Lachlan Boyd 102.

Namoi Valley Archers held a 3 arrow round on Sunday with a good field taking to the Boundary range in excellent weather conditions. Greg Donovan returned the highest score of the day on his way to winning the Sighted division. Donovan was on fire in the first half of the round but lost his way for a couple of targets to come back to the field. However Donovan regrouped and finished strongly over the concluding targets to score the win from an inform Greg Scott with Nathan Murrell grabbing third. Karen Hudson was the best of the Compound archers with a well compiled round with Wendi Murrell also shooting well in second place with Jarrod Stubbs in third. Darrell Hudson shot extremely well to take the win in the Traditional division with Peter Stubbs taking second place from Phil greenwood in a very tight contest. The club will be back in action this Sunday with an IFAA Field Round set down for the day. This will be the final opportunity for competitors to prepare for the NSW State IFAA Championships to be held in Gloucester on May 12 and 13 (Ed, that'd be the same weekend the drags are on). Scores Sighted - Greg Donovan 1135, Greg Scott 1115, Nathan Murrell 1095, Stuart Dolbel 1080, Steve jaeger 1065, Gordon White 1040, Sebastian Donovan 1045, James Bush1025, John Clark 1010, Peter Bush 1010, Bernie Hayne 990, Matt Wittman 990, Mark Stevenson 735, Merv Lamey 645. Compound - Karen Hudson 775, Wendi Murrell 740, Jarrod Stubbs 630, Ann Stubbs 600. Traditional - Darrell Hudson 785, Peter Stubbs 725, Phillip Greenwood 710. Junior Sighted - Lachlan Boyd 540. Junior Compound - Zac Critchley 675, Hayley Murrell 595, Blake Memorey 430. Cub Sighted - Travis Lamey 900. Cub Compound - Kaytlyn Murrell 640, Emily Jaeger 515, Emylie Murrell 350. Cub Traditional – Rhegan Jaeger 420.