Cariboo Archers Al Campsall and Ty Thurow were busy during the weekend at the Canada Cup in Maple Ridge.
“Neither of us had been able to prepare properly,” Campsall said, noting he was injured and Thurow was sick.
“But we managed to shoot about 400 arrows over the three days of competition. That meant 400, 37-pound reps for Ty and 400, 51-pound reps for ‘codger boy.’ We were both exhausted when we left for home (Monday) afternoon.”
Campsall, however, said both shot well, adding Thurow was most impressive as he had never shot at such a distance (50 metres versus his usual 30 metres).
Additionally, Thurow shot against 17 year olds as his 12- and 13-year-old category was not offered.
Thurow finished in the middle of the pack, while Campsall finished near the top of his as both qualified for the elimination rounds on Monday.
Thurow made it to the fourth round before being eliminated and Campsall made it through to the fifth.
“It was very interesting and amusing as Ty had to shoot against (me) in the fourth round — lots of good-natured remarks from the spectators as we lined up to shoot on the line together — and you will never guess who they were cheering for,” Campsall said.
“The margin was narrow, but the mentor edged out the mentee to move on.”
In his final round, Campsall then lost to the past Canadian champion by two points to finish his competition.
“Both of us had a good time and left with more determination than ever to succeed in our penchant for constant improvement,” Campsall said.
The next big shoot for the Cariboo Archers will be the BC 3D Championships in Prince George June 24-25.
Prior to that, Quesnel and 100 Mile House will host their local shoots on the May 27-28 and June 3-4 weekends, respectively.