Boundary Range Tests Local Archers

Namoi Valley Archers held an ABA 3 arrow round on Sunday with competitors taking to the Boundary range in perfect weather conditions. Course designers, Bernie Hayne and Nathan Murrell presented a very testing course with good scores hard to come by. Greg Scott was the highest scorer on the day winning the Sighted division after putting together a very solid performance. Greg Donovan also shot well to take second place just edging out Stuart Dolbel in a tense battle for the minor placings. Wendi Murrell showed the benefits of some hard work at the practice butts to record a clear cut win in the Compound event with Karen Hudson finishing second and Sharon Boyd third. Darrell Hudson blitzed the filed in the Traditional event shooting impressively to take the win with Peter Stubbs second and Anthony Baker third. The next club shoot is set down for July 1st with registration at 9.00am for a 9.30am start on the range. Scores Sighted - Greg Scott 386, Greg Donovan 380, Stuart Dolbel 378, Matt Sinclair 376, John Clark 374, Peter Bush 368, Gordon White 364, Lloyd Jauja 358, Mel Sinclair 336, Ken Thompson 302, Denise Stevenson 302, Bernie Hayne 110. Traditional - Darrell Hudson 310, Peter Stubbs 252, Anthony Baker 212, Brett Wheatley 162. Compound - Wendi Murrell 334, Karen Hudson 312, Sharon Boyd 172. Cub Compound - Kaytlyn Murrell 284, James Baker 270, Hayley Murrell 278, Emylie Murrell 110. Junior Sighted – Sophie Donovan 316, Lachlan Boyd 278. Little Archer - Connor Wheatley 250.

National IFAA

Namoi Valley Archers was represented by a 5 member team at the Australian IFAA Championships held in Sale, Victoria over the long weekend. The big wet which hit Victoria threw the travel and accommodation plans of many competitors into disarray with the Gunnedah group forced to scramble for new accommodation after the caravan park they were booked into was inundated by 1 metre of flood water. With new accommodation secured and a detour via Melbourne to reach the tournament the team found the ranges were in remarkably good condition allowing the event to proceed as scheduled. The International Field Archery Association competition is a highly technical test of archery ability with archers shooting 4 arrows at each of the 28 targets with a maximum distance of 80 yards. As well as the prestige of winning a National title this tournament took on added significance with the Australian team for the 2012 World IFAA Championships to be held in Argentina to be selected shortly. Wade Hudson surely enhanced his chances of selection in the Australian team with a wonderful display of archery to win the Bowhunter Compound Australian championship. Hudson opened a 35 point lead over Robert Salter after the Field round was completed but saw his lead clipped by 8 points after Salter recorded the best score in the Hunter round. Hudson showed the composure of a champion in the final animal round to outscore Salter and finish the event as Australian champion successfully defending his 2011 title. The Gunnedah club has 3 representatives in the Bowhunter Recurve B grade division with veteran Phil Greenwood showing great tenacity to score a memorable win. Greenwood started well setting a cracking pace in the Field round to open a big lead over Karl Peck and another Gunnedah archer, Darrell Hudson. Peck outscored Greenwood in both the Hunter and Animal rounds but Greenwood had done enough to secure a 14 point win. The battle for third came down to a close tussle between Gunnedah’s Darrell Hudson and Peter Stubbs with Hudson doing just enough the grab third by 11 points. Karen Hudson shot extremely well to take the silver in Ladies Bowhunter Compound event behind multiple Australian representative Coralie Volgyesi with a very consistent performance across the 3 rounds.

3D Shoot Challenges Local Archers

Namoi Valley Archers held a 2 round 3D event at their last club shoot with course designers, Greg Donovan and Gordon White, delivering a championship quality range. With clever target placement and making full use of the difficult terrain the duo left many competitors struggling to achieve good scores. One competitor who beat the trend of lower scores on the day was Karen Hudson who set a new club record on her way to winning the Compound division, putting together two quality rounds to record the win. Ann Stubbs grabbed second place with Sharon Boyd also shooting well to finish in third. Veteran, Phil Greenwood used all his experience to record a good win in the Traditional contest with Darrell Hudson in second and Peter Stubbs finishing third. John Clark did just enough the finish on top in the Sighted division with Greg Donovan and son, Sebastian, finishing in a deadheat in the battle for the minor placings. The next club event is set down for June 16th and 17th and will be a 2 day ABA event with the first day to start on Saturday afternoon with a 2.00pm registration for a 2.30pm start on the range. The second day will be a 9.00am registration for a 9.30 start. Scores Compound - Karen Hudson 666, Ann Stubbs 484, Sharon Boyd 442, Wendi Murrell 280, Ken Hill 264. Traditional - Phillip Greenwood 588,Darrell Hudson 536,Peter Stubbs 482, John Woolaston 316.Sighted - John Clark 762, Sebastian Donovan 756, Greg Donovan 756, Stuart Dolbel 738, Gordon White 730, Bernie Hayne 716, James Bush 698, John Finn 680, Matt Sinclair 678, Steve Jaeger 660, Peter Bush 650, Mark Stevenson 632, Matt Krug 588, Mel Sinclair 586, Denise Stevenson 514, Greg Scott 374, Mathew Wittman366, Nathan Murrell 360, Merv Lamey 336. Junior Sighted - Lachlan Boyd 496. Junior Compound - Hayley Murrell 320. Cub Sighted – Travis Lamey 676. Cub Compound - Zac Critchley 686, Kaytlyn Murrell 296,Emily Jaeger 252, Emylie Murrell 162. Little Archers - Rhegan Jaeger 332, Jayla Woolaston 106.