ARCHERY was a mixed bag for Blue Lake Archers this week with equipment tuning and coaching taking equal priority to competition.
Further afield, one of the local members ventured to Geelong to compete in a national level competition.
Friday night the Indoor competition took a backseat to ensure archers’ equipment was in top tune.
With an extended repair and tuning session, competition was the furthest from the archers’ minds, the nights competition was eventually called off and an extended practice session rounded out the night.
Sunday, the late-morning beginners coaching and practice session proved just as busy as the eventual competitive round later in the afternoon.
New gear was being checked and tested for a couple of the new archers and minor bugs and glitches ironed out.
Beginners have started to push out to longer distances as their confidence and skills grow.
Their enthusiasm resulted in a prolonged session and a slightly later start to actual competition.
The threat of damp conditions later in the day was ignored and the rounds for the day’s competition were selected as a 50-metre Melbourne and a 20-metre Newcastle, both 90-arrow rounds.
Seth Delaney and Nash Radford tackled the Newcastle, with the remaining archers taking on the Melbourne.
It was Radford’s first scored outdoor round and only the second for Delaney.
Ben Kilsby had the best off-the-bow score noted on the score sheets and it elevated him to the runner-up position in the adjusted scores.
The win went to Matt Delaney, who pushed his adjusted score well past the benchmark of 900 points, completing the round on 934 points.
In Victoria, Jeff Puckridge was out and about having a tilt at the 2023 National Field Archery competition held on a picturesque natural bush course near Geelong.
Competing in the 60+ male compound bow division, Puckridge placed sixth with a credible score of 657 points.
The title went to Victor Bobrowski from New South Wales with a total score of 708 points.
Indoor archery continues at the Blue Lake Gymnastics Club, Malseed Park on Friday at 7pm, followed by outdoor archery at Corriedale Park from 12.30pm on Sunday.
Outdoor round, handicap scored, benchmark 900 points: Matthew Delaney, Melbourne, 934 (off the bow 795); Ben Kilsby, Melbourne, 884 (867); Anthony Cox, Melbourne, 877 (705); Paul Freeman, Melbourne, 874 (800); Seth Delaney, Newcastle, 757 (off the bow only); Nash Radford 592 (off the bow only).
