Lora-Lee Murray continued her shooting success on the national stage by capturing a silver medal in the female barebow category at the 2019 Canadian Field Archery Championships in Prince Albert, Sask., on Wednesday (Aug. 7).
Fresh off of her gold medal triumph at the 3D shoot a couple days prior, Murray was feeling good despite not having as much experience with field archery.
“This was only the third time I’ve ever shot it,” she says. “I didn’t have a whole lot of practice time for it, as I was concentrating on the 3D shoot, so it was a bit of a challenge, but it was fun.”
The two competitions are somewhat similar, with contestants walking through a tree-filled course, but instead of aiming at foam animals, the field archers aim at paper targets which are set up at pre-determined distances.
“At some targets, we shoot short distances, so some of my shots were from five metres away at a 20-centimetre target, and at some targets, it was up to a 50-metre shot on an 80-centimetre target.”
The archers shoot three arrows at a time at 24 targets altogether.
Murray was one of 135 athletes taking part in the shoot, which saw some of the best field archers from across Canada letting arrows fly.
She says it was fun seeing all the contestants from different provinces.
“I’ve met some of them on my travels with my daughter, so it was nice to see some familiar faces,,” she says. “The group I shot with was entirely new though.”
Murray recalls meeting some interesting shooters from Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and even someone from Nunavut.
Her family members were the most important people there, however. She travelled with her husband and youngest daughter to the shoot and was grateful to have them nearby.
“I couldn’t have done it without them,” she says. “When I was having a bad moment or I just needed to vent, I just knew they were here, and they told me to just shake it off.”
While she will be happy to have a break from archery after all the high-pressure shooting she has done, Murray is still looking forward to some future events. The provincial field championships will be in Prince George on the September long weekend, so she is hoping to take part in that.
“Now I’ll concentrate on some paper distances and shoot a few arrows and see what happens.”
READ MORE: Quesnel River Archers win two medals on national stage
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