Arrows are flying in all the right directions for the Cariboo Archers.
Last weekend, two Cariboo Archers – Al Campsall and Lee Jackman — braved sketchy road conditions to travel to Abbotsford for B.C.’s largest indoor 3D shoot.
And despite not having fellow teammates Fred Streleoff, Dan Mobbs, Jessie Mobbs and Ernie Schmid there, Campsall said they proved Cariboo Archers can still dominate.
“Lee shone as never before,” he said. “His 150/150 round with nine out of 15 ‘Xs’ (perfect centre shots) was the top round of all archers. He led all archers with three perfect (150/150 rounds) for the weekend.”
Campsall, meanwhile, finished second with two perfect rounds and the same total of ‘Xs.’ Because both shooters had 150/150 scores, a one-arrow shoot-off was put in place.
There, Campsall barely edged Jackman, but said Jackman was the undisputed “man of the event.”
In the days following the shoot Campsall continued on with his good stroke of luck, discovering he was among the top-three finalists for Sport BC’s Master Athlete of the Year. A gala dinner, scheduled for Thursday, March 10 in Vancouver, will honour outstanding amateur athletes, coaches and officials, named as finalists.
“It’s very exciting,” said Campsall, who was also a finalist last year. “I have to admit I was quite surprised. You’re there with Olympic athletes, guys like Carey Price, and just to be able to mingle among that group is quite exciting.”
This weekend, a number of Cariboo Archers will travel to Vanderhoof for a shoot, before Campsall and junior archer Ty Thurow will pack up their bows and head south to Las Vegas Jan. 29 for the Vegas Shoot, the largest archery competition in the world.
“Ty is a Canadian record holder and Canadian champion in indoor archery,” said Campsall, who coaches Ty. “He’s our star archer and I think he has a good chance to finish very well.
“He’s putting up scores in practice that are very impressive.”
The event is expected to attract some 3,000 archers from around the world.
“If he keeps it up, from his scores right now, he’ll definitely be in the top 10,” Campsall said. “It seems that he will be soon beating his coach’s scores, and is that not the ultimate goal of a coach/mentor?”