NVA Start The Year In Good Form

The rain in Maitland falls mainly on us. Namoi Valley Archers sent a smaller than usual contingent of keen archers to the first shoot of the year at the northern NSW branch ABA shoot held recently at a very wet Maitland range. Although the forecast did not look good going into the weekend the intrepid team set forth through torrential rain on the Friday ,which lasted through till Saturday lunch, assured of not having the heatwave conditions of the previous year, and the choice pick of camping spot, albeit slightly wet underfoot. The Maitland club always produces an enjoyable shoot with the hot showers on Friday night most appreciated. Although numbers were slightly down ,due to the forecast rain, a good turnout of archers presented at the muster on Saturday morning, obviously choosing to stay in dryer accommodation, and despite the continuing rain, proceeded to record some good scores in the trying conditions. The Gunnedah club members, coming in from a spell and with plenty of practice under the belt proceeded to give an excellent account of themselves over the weekend , with all attending archers taking home a medal of some sort, in a dominant club display, with the Hayne family not only taking home dual bronze but cleaning up at the raffle table as well. Father and son team of Bernie & Zac Hayne both finished with a 3rd placing in their respective classes , in the highly competitive freestyle division , with Zac shooting against Australian representative Jake Collins, who scored a perfect second round on his way to another victory. Wendi Murrell had a morale boosting win over close rival Libby White in the barebow division, who was shooting on home soil, in a come from behind victory , which saw her run away with the win in the end. Nathan Murrell finished with a second placing in a large field of competitive archers in the bowhunter unlimited division flight 2, while Peter Bush came away with a 3rd place in flight 1.The Murrell girls Haylee, Kaytlyn and Emylie all had wins in their respective cub barebow divisions, with Haylee’s score second in the overall cub/junior/ladies tally ,only being beaten by 4 points by her mother Wendi. Despite the weather and slippery conditions the weekend was a great success for the club, with the scores showing great promise for the year ahead in what will no doubt be another successfull campaign for archery pre-eminance.