News from 3rd quarter of 2007
Leamington win West Midlands Summer League
RLSAS won the West Midlands Archery Society Summer League. It was very close throughout the competition, with Rugby, Redhill, and Long Mynd providing the main opposition. We went into the final round in second place, just one point behind Rugby. However, with some good made and handicap adjusted scores, we pulled back and finished with a lead of 103 points over Redhill, who were second.
Thanks to all those who took part.
Club winners of the Bow International Summer Series
Once again we entered the 'Bow International' Summer Series competition and this year it was decided that the awards would go to the highest handicap adjusted scores attained while shooting any of the Warwick rounds.
The top four scores went to Michael McCarthy (1539), Marc Heaviside (1532), Fi Kemp (1519) and Perry Hughes (1512). Michael was awarded the trophy and the other three received medals. Perry and Michael are pictured here along with our chairman, Denis Folkard, who presented the awards.
As overall winner at our club, Michael's name will be entered into a draw, organised by Bow International, the winner of which will receive a voucher for £300 worth of archery equipment. All participating clubs are also entered into a draw for £350 worth of equipment for the winning clubs.
Good Medal Haul at Stratford
A party of 10 Leamington archers had a rewarding day, despite very blustery conditions, at Stratford Archers' annual John Bray tournament, held on Sunday 23 September.
Archers shot the Long Metric 1 round of 3 dozen arrows at each of 70 metres and 60 metres, while juniors shot the equivalent rounds according to age.
Brian Tustin won the men's recurve event with an excellent 552, and Pete Hunnisett took silver with 536. Other Leamington men shooting were Paul Roberts 447,Paul McCarthy 393 and Marc Heaviside 340.
Dawn Leide shot consistently, but was narrowly pushed into second place in the ladies' compound competition by Janette Ross (Meriden), 550 to 554. Angela Cave on 305, took second place in the ladies recurve competition, behind Betsy Johnson (Redhill) 425.
Leamington juniors also had a good day. 14 year old Sophie Heaviside (368) and 11 year old Bethany Roberts (351) took second and third places respectively in the Long Metric 3 round (40 and 30 metres) behind Meriden's Rebecca Adkins. 11 year old Caitlin McCarthy won the Long Metric 4 competition with a very creditable 436.
Naomi wins last major shoot of outdoor season
Leamington's GB international Naomi Folkard over the weekend put in an outstanding performance at the last major shoot of the outdoor target season. The world record status double FITA Star competition was held over two days at the Lilleshall National Sports Centre in Shropshire. Competitors each day shot the 12 dozen arrow FITA rounds, for the ladies 3 dozen arrows at each of 70, 60, 50 and 30 metres. The event attracted a very large field including many of the country's top archers.
In very tricky conditions Naomi scored an amazing 1326 on Saturday, and on Sunday, in even worse conditions, 1302, giving her a total of 2628. The top ladies were well spread. GB team mate Charlotte Burgess (Bruntwood), who together with Folkard and Alison Williamson won gold in the European Championships this summer, took second place with a total score of 2543. Another GB international Amy Oliver (Dearne Valley) was third with 2435 and Vikki Gallop (Hatch) was fourth with 2416.
Folkard, who is training hard for next year's Olympics and for the World Field Championships, is supported by local firms, solicitors Wright Hassall and estate agent Malcolm Hawkesford.
Naomi Again Shows Her Class
Leamington's Naomi Folkard showed her class last weekend at the Meriden Archery Club's Olympic-style tournament.
The event, which attracted top archers from all parts of the country, comprised a FITA 70 m qualification round (6 dozen arrows at 70metres), followed by a knock out competition of of head to head matches, each of 12 arrows at 70 metres.
Folkard, who in preparation for the Beijing Olympics, has had another superb international season, shot magnificently throughout the day. She qualified in first place, well ahead of the rest of the field, with an excellent 644. Amy Oliver (Dearne Valley) and Philippa Lowe (Meriden) took second and third places respectively. Folkard had convincing victories over all her opponents in her head to head matches, beating Lynne Burton (Havering Disabled) 106 to 82, Tara Mckinnon (Wolverhampton) 111 o 85, Louise Colville (Exeter University) 109 to 84 and in the gold medal match, Amy Oliver 113 to 99.
With the outdoor target archery season coming to an end, Folkard will not only be continuing to train hard over the winter, but will also be turning her attention to field archery. She won the bronze medal in the World Field Championships last year and will be aiming to qualify for next year's World Field Championships to be held in South Wales in September, just after the Olympics.
Success for Leamington Juniors
Saturday (1 Sept) saw three of RLSAS's juniors shooting in the annual West Midlands Archery Society Open Junior Championships. The shoot which also included the County of Worcestershire Archery Association Championships was hosted by Redhill Archers at their ground in Wythall Park, near Birmingham.
The weather, and particularly the wind, varied throughout the day adding to the challenge for the three Leamington youngsters, who were shooting the Bristol rounds of 12 dozen arrows . Eleven year olds Bethany Roberts and Caitlin McCarthy both shot the Bristol IV round at distances of 40, 30 & 20 yds. Seven year Old Michael McCarthy, who only took up archery in July, shot the shorter Bristol V round at 20,15 and 10 yds.
In the difficult conditions Bethany Roberts was the clear winner of the Bristol IV category with a score of 1094, also winning the Redhill Open Trophy. Caitlin McCarthy also did well to score 971 to be placed third.
Michael McCarthy exceeded expectations to score 784 for his first Bristol V round to win that category.
Bethany and Caitlin will be shooting again next weekend in the Junior Regional Inter County match at Wolverhampton, as part of the newly formed County of Warwickshire Junior Squad. The other team members are Henry Scott, also from Leamington, Ashley Jeffs from Coventry and Becky Adkins, Ellie Bromage and Stephen Chetwynd from Meriden.
Outstanding Performance by Naomi at British Target Championships
Leamington recurve archer Naomi Folkard put in a tremendous performance at the British Target Championships last weekend, not only easily winning the event, but also putting a massive number of points on to the national records for the Hereford and Double Hereford rounds.
The two-day event at the Lilleshall National Sports Centre involved, each day, the traditional 12 dozen arrow English rounds: for the ladies the Hereford round (6 dozen at 80 yds, 4 dozen at 60yds and 2 dozen at 50 yds), and for the men, the York round (100 yds, 80 yds and 60 yds).
Naomi shot with amazing accuracy both days, gaining 1250 and 1252 points out of a possible 1296. Both days she beat her own national record for the single round of 1234 set back in 2002. She also increased her own national record for the Double Hereford, achieved in 2000 at the age of 16, from 2416 to 2502.
Fellow GB international Emma Downie (Edinburgh University) took second place with a total of 2386, and another Warwickshire lady, Philippa Lowe (Meriden) was third with 2315. Lowe was a member of the selected England team which won first place in the Home Nations recurve event. Both Folkard and Lowe were in the 4 man West Midlands team which won the Regional recurve team event.
Other Warwickshire archers putting in commendable performances were compounds, Garry Fowler (Meriden) 6th with 2462 and Adam Ravenscroft 9th with 2443.
Folkard who finished 11th in the Athens Olympics in 2004, graduated from Birmingham University in 2005 and has since concentrated on her archery full time. She has gone from strength to strength, with successes in outdoor target, indoor target and field archery: silver at the Commonwealth Archery Championships in November 2007; bronze at the World Indoor Championships in March 2007; and bronze at the World Field Championships in September 2006. In addition she was part of the three man team to win bronze at the World Championships in Leipzig last month and the three man team to win gold at the World Cup in Dover two weeks ago. She is now in Beijing for the Olympic test event.
Folkard is sponsored by local firms, solicitors Wright Hassall and estate agent Malcolm Hawkesford.
Gold Medal for Naomi at World Cup Event
Leamington archer Naomi Folkard was a member of the very successful British archery team at the Archery World Cup event last week in Dover. After putting in an excellent individual performance she went on to gain the team gold medal.
This was the first major archery event held in the UK for some years and as a FITA World Cup event attracted most of the world's top archers, with the exception of the Koreans. The weather was good, although it was hot and windy at times.
The competition was in the Olympic style format, a qualification round followed by 12 arrow head-to-head matches. The qualification round was the 12 dozen arrow FITA round of 3 dozen at each of 70,60,50 and 30 metres. Naomi qualified in 6th place with 1328 while team mates Alison Williamson (the Olympic bronze medallist in Athens) and Charlotte Burgess were 12th with 1312, and 29th with 1282 respectively. In the head-to-head rounds, Naomi went out in a closely fought 1/16 elimination to Unruh (Germany) 103 to 102, but as one of the highest scoring losers in the round she finished in 20th place.
The ladies recurve team, of Folkard, Williamson and Burgess, together make a formidable team: they won bronze at the World Cup in Korea in April and bronze at the World Championships in Leipzig last month, where they also earned a maximum quota for GB ladies of 3 places in the Bejing Olympics. After the qualification round they were ranked 6, but they put in tremendous performances in high scoring matches against China, Poland and Italy, all of whom had qualified above them. They beat China 216 to 214, Poland 210 to 203 and, in the gold medal match, Italy 212 to 207. India, the favourites, finished third. Folkard said "It was a great result. I had lots of friends there, so it was very exciting. I knew it was possible to win, but also that we had to put in a world class performance".
The men's compound team of White, Forbes and Franklin shot strongly, but in the final with 224 to USA's 229 had to settle for the silver medal.
Convincing Victories for Warwickshire
The annual three-way county match between Warwickshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire was hosted on Sunday by the Meriden Archery Club in very hot, humid but dry conditions. Archers shot the 12 dozen arrow FITA rounds (90, 70, 50 and 30 ms for men and 70, 60, 50 and 30 ms for ladies). Despite the absence of some of their top archers Warwickshire had convincing victories in both recurve and compound matches.
In the recurve competition Warwickshire amassed a grand total of 11307 points to Derbyshire's 11112 and Nottinghamshire's 10923. The team comprised Leah Innocent (Coventry)1215, Philippa Lowe (Meriden) 1191, Joann Lunt (Stratford) 1100, wendy Baird (Meriden) 1088, Colin Geenes (Leamington) 1193, Brian Tustin (Leamington) 1168, Adrian Kinzett (Meriden), Lee Williams (Meriden), Paul Jaggers (Rugby) 1048 and Tony Wager (Leamington) 1047. Also shooting, but not making the team were Kathy Folkard (Leamington)1072, Carol Byde (Sutton Coldfield) 1061, Pete Hunnisett (Leamington) 1041 and Richard Pearson (Rugby (1006).
The Warwickshire compound team scored a total of 3941 points to Derbyshire's 3861 and Nottinghamshire's 3642. The Warwickshire team comprised Janette Ross 1233, Garry Fowler 1362 and John Robbins 1346, all from Meriden. Adam Ravenscroft (Bowflights) with an excellent score of 1336 and Dawn Leide (Leamington) 1186 also shot , but did not make the team.
Warwickshire have now won all their inter-county matches this season and the only competition remaining is the five-way Regional Inter Counties event in October.
Tom and Fi get marriedClub members Tom Kemp and Fi Sharp tied the knot on 3 August and are now taking a well-earned honeymoon. I thought you would be interested to see the decorations on their wedding cake - it's clear where their interests lie. Even got Tom shooting left-handed. Congratulations to the happy couple. |
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The Annual Club Clout Shoot
Probably a record number of club members turned out for the annual Clout shoot which was held on 30 July, a very fine Sunday morning. Clout is a bit different to the normal target rounds as archers shoot at a large target on the ground marked only by a flag. Up to 5 points are awarded for each arrow that lands within 12 feet of the flag. Oh, and it's a bit further away than usual; 180 yards for men, 140 yards for ladies and shorter distances for juniors. 15 of us took part in this fun event and although a few struggled to reach the distance some respectable score were made. Tom Kemp won the Gents competition with 61 points, Angela Cave the ladies with 7 and Caitlin McCarthy the juniors with 16. Full results on the Tournament Results page.
Leamington Archers at the WMAS Championships
Two Leamington archers shot at the West Midlands Outdoor Championship on Sunday (15 July 2007) in very wet conditions. The York (6 doz at 100 yards, 4 doz at 80 and 2 doz at 60) started in a downpour and there were heavy showers all morning. During the afternoon the showers subsided and the final distance was shot in the dry. Pete Hunnisett took the bronze medal for 3rd place with 926 ( a new pb in spite of the weather) and James Scott was 4th with 891 in his first York. James also took the first class classification award. Henry Scott shot the Bristol 4 in the open tournament, taking the silver medal with a score of 1118.
Team Medal for Naomi in Leipzig
Leamington's Naomi Folkard was among the three archers who took the Bronze medal in the ladies team event at the World Target Archery Championships held in Leipzig last week. In the qualification FITA round Naomi qualified 8th (of 144) with a personal best score of 1346. The other British ladies, Alison Williamson and Charlotte Burgess were 23rd and 24th. In the following individual head to head Naomi was knocked out by North Korean Un Sil Kwon to finish in 18th place. In the team event the GB ladies were beaten by Korea, the eventual winners, in the semi finals, but narrowly beat Italy in the play off for the Bronze medal. The GB mens team, comprised of Alan Wills who took the individual bronze, Simon Terry (4th), and Larry Godfrey, took team silver losing only to Korea in the final, thus ensuring that GB can take two full teams to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. A fuller account appears on the Warwickshire County site
Leamington Juniors perform well in National Championships
Four Leamington youngsters competed in the Junior National Championships last weekend (7/8 July 2007) at the Lilleshall National Sports Centre in Shropshire. Henry Scott, Bethany Roberts, Caitlin McCarthy and Michael McCarthy, all shooting recurve bows, put in excellent performances.
The event comprised a junior FITA Star tournament with FITA and metric rounds on Saturday, and the National Championships with York, Hereford and Bristol rounds on Sunday. Juniors could shoot the rounds appropriate for their age group.
On Saturday Henry Scott, Bethany Roberts and Caitlin McCarthy (pictured left), all aged 11, shot the Metric 4 round with distances of 40, 30, 20 and 10 metres. Bethany scoring 1220, behind Lauren McPherson (Birstall) 1308 and Sophie Cole (Chelmsford) 1227, picked up the bronze medal for under 13 girls. Caitlin with 1100 finished in 7th place. The competition in the boys under 12 group was stiff, but Henry put in a very respectable 1158 to finish 9th. For 7 year old Michael McCarthy, who only completed a beginners course two weeks ago, this was his first tournament. He shot the Metric 5 round (30, 20,15 and 10 metres) and scored 405, which, as the only recurve boy shooting the round, earned him the gold medal.
In the Championship events on Sunday, shooting the Bristol 4 round (12 dozen arrows over 40, 30 and 20 yards), Bethany with 1110, was narrowly pushed into fourth place in the under 13 girls competition. Caitlin on 990 was 10th. In the boys under 12 event Henry, with 1112 was again 9th. Henry won the prize for the best gold.
Details of our archers scores are on the Tournaments page and full results of the weekend are on the GNAS site.
Another gold for Bethany
Bethany Roberts shot a Bristol IV (6 dozen at 40 yards, 4 dozen at 30 and 2 dozen at 20) at Cheltenham Archers 150th anniversary Summer Tournament on Sunday (1 July 2007) in atrocious conditions. A strong tailwind and occasional heavy downpours made shooting very difficult and a number of archers dropped out because of the weather. Nevertheless, Bethany stayed the course and was one of the few archers (adults too) who managed to complete the round without a miss. She won the gold medal for her class with a score of 1047, pretty good given the conditions, and well ahead of the other girls.
