Archery

by Sports | May 8th, 2007

Time: Sunday 10.30
Location: Archery Range

This weekend’s match against Lancaster was a tough one for York’s Archery Club, as strong winds made it difficult for competitors on both sides to accurately hit their targets. Luckily, the weather conditions didn’t hinder the home team from continuing their unbeaten run against the visitors, and they managed to claim a stonking nine out of the ten points available.

The match took place far from the centre of the Roses action, on the archery range behind the National Science Learning Centre. Archers from York (in green) and Lancaster (in black) lined up side-by-side to shoot concurrently at targets positioned 40, 50 and 60 meters away. All participants fired 30 shots at each target, noted down their individual scores - and then hunted around for those arrows that had been blown astray.

Five hours after the first shot had been fired, arrows were slung over shoulders and the teams’ scores compiled. York, of course, had the advantage - not just of being on home turf but of having taken all 10 points in the last two years of Roses. Lancaster, then, were left unsurprised but deflated nonetheless, as they failed to make an impact across the board, and picked up just one point from their co-captain Amy Hall’s victory in the ‘Individual Female’ category.

The York team, however, had kept up their high standard of shooting throughout the day. Dave Cox, Jess Walker and Fran Konitzer came top in the classes of ‘Individual Male’, ‘Novice Male’ and ‘Novice Female’ respectively, securing three crucial points for the home side. Another two points were won by York’s top three novice archers, whose combined score of 1485 beat that of their Lancastrian contemporaries, who were on 1200.

Specials congratulations, meanwhile, should go to Cox, Ed Russell-Johnson, Tom Walton and captain Andrew McArthur who, as the top scoring participants, collectively scored an astonishing 2547 for Lancaster’s 2102 - and earned York their final four points.

Speaking after the match, McArthur said: “I’m really excited about the result, it’s brilliant. The wind has hindered it a lot today, so the score’s been a lot lower than it would have been, but it’s just great to get the result.”