The Quesnel River Archers welcomed teams from Prince George and Williams Lake to christen their new facility on Barlow Avenue this weekend (Jan. 26-27).
Hometown shooters used the Quesnel Gold Pan 1200 as a nice warmup to the 2019 indoor archery season.
Thirty-two contestants (15 Male and 17 Female) shot four rounds each over the course of the two-day contest.
The club’s public relations liason, Tony Wysssen, says the Quesnel contingent did very well.
“They always do,” he adds. “Even though [some of the Quesnel shooters] might have come second, they’re coming second to the best in Canada.”
For example, Bryson Watson was facing up against Ty Thurow, a two-time gold medal winner at the Canadian Outdoor 3D Championships, and Stuart Murray was going head-to-head with Dan Mobbs, who has competed at the world championship level.
Wyssen says the new facility is taking some adjusting to, as the contestants are getting used to more observers from behind, but the marksmen’s concentration saw them through.
It had to, as the scores from shoots like these are posted to Archery Canada.
“It’s neat to see a small community like Quesnel have these opportunities [to be recognized],” Wyssen says.
Most important to the club is the exposure the young archers get.
Kayden D’Entremont shot in his first archery competition and he says, “I felt I shot better under pressure.”
Sky-lynn Roth, who was also a first-time archery competitor, says she felt “excited” and was able to shoot above her average.
Mckayla Bolitho, who clinched a gold medal last summer for Archery Canada’s Regional Indoor Championship in the Pre-Cub Recurve category, felt more confidence the second time at the Gold Pan 1200, saying, “All the practice is paying off.”
Alison Dewling also enjoyed the competition.
“It feels like a building block for rest of the year,” she says.
Read More: Budding Quesnel archer top in the country
sports@quesnelobserver.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter