Photo: The assembled archers for Sunday’s indoor was possibly the best attendance of club members for a club level event with sixteen nominating to compete.
NUMBERS of competing archers have been on a steady rise over the past year for the Blue Lake Archers, which has now translated into the best attendance of members for a club level event.
National and State Indoor Archery Championships are to be held in July and the surge in local membership has ensured the club can be one of the host venues spread across the country.
With a swag of new members who have not previously been part of an archery tournament, preparations for the championships also include progressive training to makes sure all club archers are familiar with tournament procedures.
Friday night on May 5, nine archers were introduced to the timing system that will be used as part of the Indoor Championships.
Paul Freeman was the victor in the first round.
Nash Radford had qualified for his handicap rating in the second round and a jump in performance from his initial round score had him cruising to a win in his first adjusted indoor scored event.
Fiona Allison also stepped up to gain the runner-up position.
Sunday, May 7 was flagged early as being deferred to the indoor venue with average weather expected.
The opportunity to run an event in the same fashion as the upcoming championship presented itself when the number of archers exceeded the capacity of the shooting line.
Sixteen archers signed in to compete and the line can accommodate only 10 at a time.
The numbers allowed a genuine “detail” shooting order to be run, with four archers assigned to each target butt, but shoot only two at a time before the second pair shoot.
Once all arrows are shot the archers can proceeded to scoring.
Two rounds of Australian 18 meters were dispatched and Alex McDonnell was the winner in both rounds, with Seth Delaney runner-up for both.
The recent Friday night was again under full tournament timing and the two rounds were won by McDonnell to make it four in a row.
Delaney and Jeff Puckridge played second fiddle to McDonnell in the first and second rounds.
The most recent Sunday was Mothers Day and fittingly Corriedale Park was bathed in sunshine for the afternoon’s outdoor event.
Two 90 arrow rounds were set up, a triple distance short Canberra over 50, 40 and 30 metres, plus a single distance Newcastle at 20 metres.
Four of the eight archers on the field were working toward completing their handicap rating and some will be eligible for a rating in their next event.
Matt Delaney and Freeman nudged over their benchmarks to fill the top two spots.
Indoor archery continues at the Blue Lake Gymnastics Club, Malseed Park, Friday at 7pm, followed by outdoor archery at Corriedale Park from 12.30pm on Sunday.
Australian Indoor 18 metre, round 1, handicap scored, benchmark 300 points – 5/5/23: Paul Freeman 302 (off the bow 288); Garry Jacques 296 (252); Fiona Allison 296 (205); Jeff Puckridge 292 (285); Matthew Delaney 283 (258); Ian Harris 269 (253); Tamika Mullan 259 (242); Blade Delaney 118 (off the bow only); Nash Radford 108 (off the bow only).
Australian Indoor 18 metre, round 2, handicap scored, benchmark 300 points – 5/5/23: Nash Radford 358 (off the bow 137); Fiona Allison 301 (210); Paul Freeman 298 (285); Jeff Puckridge 297 (290); Matthew Delaney 296 (271); Garry Jacques 285 (241); Ian Harris 283 (267); Alex McDonnell 192 (off the bow only); Blade Delaney 68 (off the bow only).
Australian Indoor 18 metre, round 1, handicap scored, benchmark 300 points – 7/5/23: Seth Delaney 349 (off the bow 228); Alex McDonnell 323 (226); Matthew Delaney 300 (275); Ben Kilsby 295 (294); Paul Freeman 295 (282); Jeff Puckridge 293 (286); Garry Jacques 293 (249); Nash Radford 291 (99); Fiona Allison 290 (199); Ian Harris 258 (242); Tamika Mullan 227 (210); Dale Tschirpig 175 (off the bow only); Allan Oschar 135 (off the bow only); Blade Delaney 52 (off the bow only); Abbey Jones 39 (off the bow only); Callum Oschar 18 (off the bow only).
Australian Indoor 18 metre, round 2, handicap scored, benchmark 300 points – 7/5/23: Alex McDonnell 338 (off the bow 241); Seth Delaney 313 (219); Nash Radford 306 (114); Jeff Puckridge 296 (289); Ben Kilsby 295 (294); Matthew Delaney 295 (270); Fiona Allison 290 (199); Paul Freeman 282 (269); Garry Jacques 276 (232); Ian Harris 271 (255); Tamika Mullan 269 (252); Dale Tschirpig 192 (off the bow only); Abbey Jones 25 (off the bow only).
Australian Indoor 18 metre, round 1, handicap scored, benchmark 300 points – 12/5/23: Alex McDonnell 311 (off the bow 239); Seth Delaney 298 (210); Jeff Puckridge 294 (287); Paul Freeman 285 (272); Tamika Mullan 271 (254); Fiona Allison 269 (178); Garry Jacques 201 (157 retired); Dale Tschirpig 194 (off the bow only).
Australian Indoor 18 metre, round 2, handicap scored, benchmark 300 points – 12/5/23: Alex McDonnell 322 (off the bow 255); Jeff Puckridge 297 (290); Dale Tschirpig 282 (168); Paul Freeman 279 (266); Fiona Allison 279 (188).
Outdoor round , handicap scored, benchmark 900 points – 14/5/23: Matthew Delaney, short Canberra, 910 (off the bow); Paul Freeman, short Canberra, 902 (855); Jeff Puckridge, short Canberra, 886 (851); Fiona Allison 859, short Canberra, (581); Allan Oschar 794 (off the bow only); Alex McDonnell, short Canberra, 717 (off the bow only); Dale Tschirpig, short Canberra, 638 (off the bow only); Callum Oschar, Newcastle, 342 (off the bow only).
